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WATCH: Chris Dailey at the 2018 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Induction

By Erica Ayala

Chris Dailey at the 2018 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Induction
Chris Dailey at the 2018 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Induction /
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Geno Auriemma’s top assistant at Connecticut gets the justly deserved spotlight to herself.

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In 33 seasons with the University of Connecticut, Chris Dailey has built an expectation of excellence on and off the court. The UConn program culture is a selfless culture. Players cannot wear nail polish, or show tattoos, and are expected to wear stockings-something Dailey humorously addressed in her induction speech.

UConn has a culture of winning, but the record extends well beyond basketball. Dailey’s rules are justified in 11 National Championships and more importantly, the successful women her players go on to be.

Players on Dailey

UConn assistant basketball coach Chris Dailey hugs Morgan Tuck after it was announced Tuck would be joining the Husky’s of Honor on April 6, 2016 in Storrs, Ma. Tuck, a senior, had another year of eligibility but will instead enter the WNBA draft. (Mark Mirko/Hartford Courant/TNS via Getty Images)
UConn assistant basketball coach Chris Dailey hugs Morgan Tuck after it was announced Tuck would be joining the Husky’s of Honor on April 6, 2016 in Storrs, Ma. Tuck, a senior, had another year of eligibility but will instead enter the WNBA draft. (Mark Mirko/Hartford Courant/TNS via Getty Images) /

If you talk to any UConn player, they will tell you how important “CD” is to UConn, as well as them personally. Our own Howard Megdal asked New York Liberty center Tina Charles what she thought about Dailey being inducted. Her response, “It’s about time!

“The players, staff, and managers know the woman that we become when we leave UConn, the class that we have, the standards that we have for ourselves is because of Christine Dailey,” Charles continued.”

Liberty rookie and reigning NCAA Defensive Player of the Year Kia Nurse added,

"“CD does a great job molding you into the person you’re going to be when you’re at Connecticut and the person you’re going to be when you leave Connecticut. She does a lot of things off the court and on the court to help you be successful in those ways.Whether that be her little rules-as a kid you think are the end of the world, but it really isn’t- and the way she treats you as an adult makes you act in a way that helps you become professionals when you end up in that situation.”"

Happy to have a home in Knoxville

Chris Dailey has left an indelible mark on women’s basketball and through her players, the sports world and beyond. Now, she joins her players-and partner in crime Geno Auriemma-in, of all places, Tennessee.

The Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame made assistant coaches eligible for induction for the first time with the 2018 class. It is fitting that Dailey and Mickie DeMoss (Tennessee) are the first two assistants to enter.

“I think Knoxville is the place where the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame should be,” said Dailey. She added, “I’m honored to be named in the same breath with Mickie.”

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