Geno Auriemma's Arguably The Greatest Sports Coach Ever, Says Ex-UConn Star

Geno Auriemma isn't just the most decorated women's basketball coach ever ... his former UConn player, Jennifer Rizzotti, tells TMZ Sports he might just be the best of any sport!!

We spoke with the ex-Huskies guard -- who's now the president of the WNBA's Connecticut Sun -- following Auriemma's historic 1,217th victory on Nov. 20 ... and she raved about all of his accomplishments.

She called him "the best to ever do it" in women's basketball ... but then took it a step further -- and said he might have a claim to the throne of greatest coach period.

"The sustained level of success is so hard in sports -- at any level," she said. "And he has done it for four decades. He has been a championship-level coach. And I'm not sure that there's anyone out there that's quite been that good for that long."

Rizzotti, of course, is a bit biased -- she did, after all, win an NCAA championship with Geno in 1995. But regardless of her close working relationship with the 70-year-old, she said his accolades are just too impressive to not consider him in the G.O.A.T. category.

"I'm sure there's a lot of other candidates out there that you could call the greatest of all time," she said. "But it'd be hard-pressed to have him not at least be in the top five in every sport."

As for who could possibly fill in for Auriemma once he finally hangs up his coaching whistle ... Rizzotti told us UConn should seriously consider Diana Taurasi.

"She's considered the greatest of all time as a player in so many people's eyes," Rizzotti said.