Geno Auriemma reacts to Breanna Stewart’s decision to join New York Liberty

Breanna Stewart’s decision to leave the Seattle Storm and join the New York Liberty in free agency sent a shockwave through the basketball world on Wednesday.

Stewart, a UConn legend and the WNBA’s reigning scoring champion, announced her groundbreaking decision on Twitter. The 28-year-old will join a stacked Liberty roster that already boasts All-Star guard Sabrina Ionescu and former league MVP and Connecticut Sun standout Jonquel Jones.

Nobody has to tell UConn head coach Geno Auriemma how impactful of a player Stewie is, as the Huskies won four straight national titles when she was in Storrs. Her former head coach reacted to her free-agency decision after the Huskies’ win at Providence on Wednesday night.

“I talked to Stewie two days ago, I guess it was, and she feels like it’s a chapter of her life that’s closed, it’s over, and she’s starting a new one. As the elder statesman, you know,” Auriemma said.

Stewart had spent the first six seasons of her career with the Storm after being drafted No. 1 overall in 2016. She played alongside fellow UConn legend Sue Bird, who retired following last season.

“She was the young kid and Sue was her mentor, and now she gets a chance to do that closer to home in New York, closer to Spain, you know, when you gotta fly over there with her family. And she’s got a pretty damn good group around her, you know, Stef (Dolson) and Jonquel Jones and Sabrina (Ionescu). God knows who else. But I mean, I’m excited for her. I get to see her more often, so that’s a plus.”

Stewart will be much closer to Connecticut now as she takes the court for home games at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The Liberty will make two trips to Mohegan Sun next season, on June 27 and Aug. 24. It’s possible the two will get together then. Her move to the Eastern Conference means UConn fans will have many more opportunities to see Stewart in person as well.

As a Syracuse native, Stewart will also be closer to family and will have a much shorter plane trip to see her wife’s family in Spain. Stewart is married to Spanish basketball star Marta Xagray.

Geno wasn’t the only big name who reacted to the news on Wednesday, though. Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant let people on Twitter know they shouldn’t come asking him for tickets.

The 2023 WNBA season begins May 23.