UConn associate coach Dailey leaves on stretcher before game
Longtime UConn associate head coach Chris Dailey fainted before the start of the No. 5 Huskies’ game against 10th-ranked North Carolina State on Sunday.
As the national anthem ended, Dailey had to be held up by UConn personnel before she was laid down on the court. She was attended to by medical personnel for a few minutes before she was stretchered off the court. Dailey, who is 63, waved to the crowd and smiled as she left the court.
"CD is good. Everything tested out pretty good," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said of Dailey, who was taken to a hospital. "There’s nothing serious. Nothing threatening. She’s alert and awake. She’s going to be going home soon. So she’s good."
The UConn players were shaken and tearing up as they went back to the locker room as the start of the game was delayed 10 minutes. Dailey texted the players during the game that she was OK.
"Guys, I’m sorry for the drama I’m fine," UConn guard Nika Muhl said Dailey had texted. "We played this game for CD."
Connecticut won 91-69.
The officials met at half court and put 10 minutes on the clock to allow the teams to gather themselves in the locker room.
Dailey has been with Auriemma since he took over the program as head coach in 1985. She’s filled in as the head coach for him 13 times and never lost, including the first two rounds of the 2021 NCAA Tournament when he was sidelined with COVID-19.
Dailey was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018 — one of the first-ever assistant coaches to earn that honor.
Reporting by the Associated Press
