Here is an artist's rendering of what Geno's
                                         Restaurant could look like.

Geno Auriemma has heard of the negative way that opposing coaches portray the area around UConn.

"Why would you want to go there when there's nothing to do."

Well, Auriemma is getting involved in a project that he hopes will change the image of Storrs, Manfield and the surrounding community.

Auriemma was at a press conference on Tuesday to announce that he will open a restaurant named "Geno's" as part of the Storrs Center development project. Auriemma said he is hoping that his restaurant will be open for business in September.

"The people who have done this, some are not even here,. 27 years ago when I got here, I was
coming up here from the University of Virginia and I lived in Philadelphia," Auriemma said. "When I got here I was under the impression that all the universities in America looked like Villanova, St. Joe's, Penn or Virginia and then I realized after being at UConn for like three days 'no, it isn't.' We were unique in a lot of ways and unique in a way that wasn't good for growth. I always thought that the town, the community could catch up to how fast the university was moving.

"We outraced the town, the community and became so big and so forward moving that something had to happen. It just took the right people, the right time the right collaborations to make it happen. I have been fortunate to have been in the positions where because we have done this already somewhere else, we have done it down at Mohegan Sun ans it has been very successful, I have a great group of people who takes care of that stuff. We are going to be as successful and maybe more so than the place down at Mohegan because I think there is an incredible need here for something like this. I don't mean a need for a restaurant that has my name on it or doesn't have my name on it, we just need more places like this. Next year there will be more buildings, the next year there will be even more buildings until Storrs, Connecticut is
transformed into what a college town, what a college town and college community should look like."