One of Auburn's most successful coaches of the era, women's basketball coach Joe Ciampi claimed his 400th career victory this season against UAB.

The Lady Tigers won 23 games this season, making it all the way to the Elite Eight in the tournament.

Ciampi would coach at Auburn until 2004, giving the school a quarter of a century and retiring as the winningest coach in Auburn basketball history. His 607 victories won't be bested on the Plains anytime soon.

He guided Auburn to 16 NCAA appearances which included 10 berths in the Sweet Sixteen, six appearances in the Elite Eight and three Final Four appearances. His teams won three Mideast Regional championships and played in the national championship game in 1988, 1989 and 1990.

Joe Ciampi was always a good interview, very affable to me and giving of his time.

And it will be a long time before anyone enjoys his level of success on the basketball court at Auburn.

As a final note: former Auburn star Ruthie Bolton returned to Auburn this year as a member of the USA National Team for an exhibition game. She would go on to win gold medals in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic games.

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