This is always quite a hectic time for the coaching carousel but few coaching coaches generated the buzz of Jim Foster's removal as the head coach at Ohio State.

When Foster was the head coach at Saint Joseph's University, which coincidentally is in the same subregional with UConn, he gave Auriemma his first college coaching gig as an assistant coach so natural the news that Foster was no longer coaching the Buckeyes despite having multiple years on his contract came as a shock to Auriemma.


"It is an indescribable situation in the sense that he has won 75 percent of his games and he has won (six) Big 10 championships, (four)  tournament championships and he is being inducted into the Hall of Fame in June and he has five years left on his contract, Auriemma said. "You put all of those things together and you are like 'wow.' I don't know anything about the situation, how it happened and when it happened but it is not your typical 'well, we are getting a new coach.' I don't profess to know all the answers but I was the most shocked person in the world other than Jim."

It is the second time in three years that one of Auriemma's mentors left their gigs as Debbie Ryan retired at Virginia in 2011.

"I guess that tells you something about where we are," Auriemma said. "Look at the critics, all coaches get if you lost your last game or if you lose your next game so that is just the world we live in. Two of the people I spent a lot of time working with are no longer coaching and it is kind of sad."