The Arizona women’s basketball program lacked an identity when Adia Barnes was hired in 2016. Or if it did have one, it was that it was the doormat of the Pac-12.
Under previous coach Niya Butts, the Wildcats were stomped by their Pac-12 counterparts, compiling a 24-110 conference record across eight long seasons.
Those struggles continued through Barnes’ first two years at the helm, as she was tasked with overhauling a program that lacked any sort of foundation. But it’s Year 3 of the rebuild now, and there is light at the end of the tunnel.