Four coaches, teams and fandoms made their way to Phoenix for the Women's Final Four, each showcasing the commitment it takes to bring home a national title.
In her first season as ASU women's basketball head coach, Molly Miller went 24-11, bringing the Sun Devils to their first tournament appearance since 2019, raising the question: How long will Miller have to wait for her title?
UConn's Geno Auriemma
Hired as the Huskies' head coach in May 1985, it took Auriemma a decade at the helm to reach his first championship win.
Since his win in 1995, Auriemma has secured 11 more titles, with five of them coming off undefeated seasons. His Huskies have also appeared in 25 Final Fours.
Despite being the winningest coach in college basketball history, Auriemma has familiarized himself with losing. For if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, or handle the losses that come at the highest level.
After falling to South Carolina in his 25th Final Four appearance, Auriemma plans to use this loss as motivation, heading into his upcoming 43rd season as the Huskies head coach.
"The motivation is to keep coming back here and trying to win it again," Auriemma said. "Once you get here, you have to understand that there's a high probability that you're going to lose. You can't be afraid of that."
South Carolina's Dawn Staley
South Carolina brought Staley on as the program's head coach in May 2008, where she and her Gamecocks have since become a staple in the Southeastern Conference.
Similar to Auriemma, it took Staley nearly a decade to obtain her first national title in 2017.
Since then, she's made four trips to the championship game, splitting them with wins and losses, as UCLA handed her the most recent one in the 2026 tournament.
Staley's passion for the sport has evoked a love of the game, not just for her athletes, but for the Gamecock community that surrounds them. South Carolina's fans followed the team from Colonial Life Arena on campus to Sacramento, then to Phoenix in pursuit of a ring alongside Staley.
"I love basketball," Staley said. "It's my passion. It is the very thing I don't cheat on. I've been that way growing up in the projects in Philly. I've had people come in and out of my life. Basketball wasn't one of them."
Staley's relationship with basketball is one based upon longevity, where she's seen what basketball can do for families, athletes and life lessons. She aims to create young people who value the knowledge they gain from the sport in their day-to-day lives.
UCLA's Cori Close
The Bruins brought Close on as the program's head coach in April 2011, and after 15 years in the making, Close is now a champion.
Close led UCLA to its first Final Four appearance in 2025, where the Bruins fell to the Huskies. This year, Close got the last laugh after securing UCLA's first-ever women's national title.
After her first championship win, Close reflected on another UCLA legend and what it took for former men's head coach, John Wooden, to reach a title win.
Reflecting on the journey, Close said she values her athletes and the program's mission that they stuck to along the way.
"I care that my players feel that we show up for them," Close said. "I care that the families of our players feel like we lived out what we told them when we recruited them. I care about having consistency with our mission. This really is a by-product, and it really is only meaningful because of the people I get to share it with."
Texas' Vic Schaefer
Schaefer joined the Longhorns' staff in 2020, and he's now led them to back-to-back Final Four appearances in 2025 and 2026.
Schaefer has spent 21 seasons in a head coaching position, where he has been named a two-time National Coach of the Year and five-time Conference Coach of the Year, yet he still waits for his crowning as a national champion.
After falling to UCLA this year, Schaefer's graduate guard Rori Harmon tearfully reflected on her inability to bring home a title for her and the coach she spent five seasons with.
"A lot of the stuff I did this season, obviously, you think about your career, your university, you do it for your teammates and everything," Harmon said. "I've been here for five years with Coach Schaefer. I really wanted to do it for him. It stings a lot, but I'm just super grateful to have been put in this position, to have started the foundation with him at this university and this program."
ASU's Molly Miller
Following Miller's first season in Tempe, she's already made her mark with the Sun Devils.
She has taken an ASU program that went 10-22 and 3-15 in conference play just one year prior to a program that secured a spot in the big dance for the first time in six seasons.
READ MORE: 'It starts on defense': Molly Miller has Sun Devil defense rolling through strong start
Similar to the illustrious coaches who competed in the Final Four, Miller credits the Sun Devils' success this season to those who surrounded her.
"It's about the people around this program that believe in it," Miller said. "There's so many people behind the scenes, and I wish I could spout out all their names, but that would be a list of 100 plus. I think our girls understand that, and they're very grateful for those that are pouring into the program."
Although Miller has paved the way for the Sun Devils, the trip to the title takes time. But with the transfer portal opening, incoming additions may take her one step closer.
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf, Henry Smardo and Pippa Fung.
Reach the reporter at cjoneil6@asu.edu and follow @cjojournalism on X.
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Char O’Neil is a junior studying sports journalism with a minor in special events management. This is her third semester with The State Press. She has also reported for AZPreps365, Blaze Radio and Phoenix College Basketball.
