"I would venture to say it's unfair in any setting": When Geno Auriemma defended Jim Calhoun amid $8,000,000 contract scrutiny

UConn coach Geno Auriemma won his most recent national title in April, representing his twelfth overall during his 40-year career at the helm of the Huskies. Auriemma's tenure as coach of the Huskies women's basketball team coincided with that of celebrated UConn men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun.

Calhoun arrived in Storrs in 1986, a year after Auriemma was appointed the Huskies' coach, and the pair's frosty relationship over the years was well-documented. However, in 2009, Auriemma came to the defense of Calhoun after reporter Ken Krayeske hounded the latter about his $1.6 million annual salary ($8 million, 5-year contract) during tough economic times in the country.

"My best advice to you is, shut up," Calhoun said to the reporter.

During a press conference, Auriemma was also asked about the questions directed at the charismatic Calhoun.

"I think it's unfair in this setting and I would venture to say it's unfair in any setting," Geno Auriemma said. "How do you answer questions about money, about your personal life? If everybody in the university agreed that, let's all give back this and we can save this, this, this, and this program, then somebody's got a plan.

"But just to ask that question and say, 'Yeah, OK, because I make a lot I should give some of that back,' that's a really hard question to deal with."

Geno Auriemma and Jim Calhoun's rivalry

Geno Auriemma and Jim Calhoun did not always see eye-to-eye, despite sharing the same stage in Storrs for 26 years. In an interview with "The Vault" in 2012, Calhoun referenced a difference in lifestyles as the major contributing factor to the pair's relationship.

During a 2015 segment of "Campus Insiders," Auriemma was candid about the relationship between himself and the legendary Calhoun.

"I guess it takes two to tango, they say, right?" Auriemma said (0:47). "Some people you are comfortable with, and some people you just gravitate to, and some people you just don't, and after about the third or fourth year together in the same building, it just became apparent I don't want anything to do with this for a lot of reasons."

Jim Calhoun retired in 2012 after winning three national titles with UConn, while Geno Auriemma stuck around and has won twelve national titles during his Huskies career. Together, Calhoun and Auriemma turned Storrs into the college basketball capital of the country despite not always getting along during the peaks of their careers.