Just over a month since his altercation with Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma reflected on the incident that occurred in the final moments of UConn’s national semifinal loss to South Carolina. Specifically, he expressed regret for allowing his frustrations to boil over on the court.

“You do things in the spur of the moment sometimes, but they usually come from things that have been building up for quite some time,” he said on Monday. “So when I walked in the locker room afterwards with the coaches, you're just shaking your head going, ‘Five more seconds. You couldn't keep it in for five more seconds.’ You just feel like a dumbass for the way it played out. We're all human, and we all do dumb shit.”

In the immediate aftermath of the loss, Auriemma doubled down on his actions before apologizing for his outburst in a statement the following morning. A few days later, he issued another apology, saying, “I lost myself” while revealing that he reached out and had spoken with Staley. On Monday, he declined to divulge any details about that phone call.

“The public doesn't have a right to know everything you do, contrary to public opinion,” Auriemma said. “There are some things that we all do behind the scenes that no one else needs to be privy to. Let's put it that way.”

The coach’s actions invited an avalanche of criticism. While Auriemma said he only saw some of it, he acknowledged that much of it was deserved.

“That's to be expected,” he said. “Some of it was warranted.”

However, Auriemma believed some used the incident as an opportunity to take a shot at him. He also felt some of the reaction crossed the line.

Candace Parker chimed in, saying, “In time, you see people's colors over and over again. There can be a separation of time with that, but the colors always come to light. I think colors were shown yesterday on both sides, right?” PTI’s Michael Wilbon called him “a massively insecure bully”. Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wolken had the worst take, wrongly accusing Auriemma of nearly assaulting Staley — comparing their argument to when Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes punched a Miami player following an interception — which never came remotely close to happening.

“Some of it was people have been lying in the wings, waiting for that moment,” Auriemma said. “I brought the criticism on myself. I didn't bring the bullshit that came after it on myself.”

Regardless, the coach didn’t concern himself with the opinions of anyone other than his family, friends and “the people that I trust most.”

“We're all human beings. We all have feelings about either what we did or what we should have done or what people think of you. I think that never goes away,” Auriemma said. “But in terms of how I'm going to be viewed, I could give two shits about that. I did what I did, I apologized for it, and move on.”

This was the first time the coach spoke about the incident since the South Carolina game on Apr. 3 in Phoenix. He struck a defiant tone that night, saying Staley made him wait for the customary pregame handshake and later complaining about her mistreatment of the officials throughout the contest.

As Auriemma reflected on his actions on Monday, he took a different approach. The coach finally showed contrition for the first time (outside of a school-issues statement, at least) while again expressing a desire to put it all in the past.

“I think most of the conversations have already been out there and everybody certainly has had their chance to have their own conversation about it,” he said. “So I think we'll leave it at that.”

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