Women's college basketball has a long history of blockbuster matchups and rivalries, highlighted by Tennessee and UConn. The Huskies and the Lady Vols have been two titans in women's college basketball, thanks to Geno Auriemma and the late Pat Summitt. It became a real rivalry between coaches and players. For example, Tennessee legend Candace Parker still has no love lost for Auriemma.

Summitt and Auriemma respected each other, but there was no love lost between the two programs, and that's where Parker is coming from. Parker was a legend at Tennessee and credits Pat Summitt and her coaching style for getting the most out of her, so it's no wonder she still sides with her legendary coach.

She elaborated on her feelings toward Auriemma in a TikTok for Complex Magazine. She said they don't have any ongoing beef or grudges, but they don't like each other mainly because of the Tennessee-UConn rivalry.

When Parker was asked explicitly whether she and Auriemma have connected, she said, “Nah. It's not beef. It's just that we don't like each other.”

She added, “We must be in a place where people understand and respect that, right? So many men out there don't like each other. It's so okay in society for people not to like each other. It's so okay for people to come on social media and talk junk if you're a man. It's fine, we don't like each other.”

“I grew up in an era where I didn't like you if you wronged my brother. It's just like that. Pat [Summitt] did not mess with Geno. So, I didn't mess with him. It was a rivalry, and then it boiled over into putting on the same USA jersey,” she continued.

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“The best feeling is knowing you don't like each other. There's no beef, because we moved past it.”

It's refreshing to hear an athlete like Candace Parker be so honest on a subject like this. It also adds a lot of fuel to the fire that this was a real rivalry, not just for show or in fans' minds.

Auriemma eventually passed Summitt on the all-time wins list in college basketball and is the current leader with 1,250 and counting. He also helped lead UConn to another national championship win this past season, totaling 12.

UConn and Auriemma have had a stranglehold on women's basketball since 1995, but Tennessee is still their big rival, and Parker's comments only further that.