Adia Barnes bringing back that excitement to Arizona Women’s Basketball

Head Coach Adia Barnes has brought back that excitement to Arizona Women’s Basketball and has led her team back to the WNIT Championship game on Saturday .

Remarkable. That would be the best to describe what head coach Adia Barnes has done for the Arizona Women’s Basketball. Her experience, her knowledge and her passion for Arizona Athletics has turned this program around. From only winning six games last season to 23 this season, that’s impressive. Now they have a chance to win the WNIT after the program last achieved this feat back in 1996 against Northwestern, the same team they face Saturday.

Ironically enough, the last time this program won the WNIT Barnes was a player, now she will be looking to win this time as a coach. As the leader for this team and program, she has more then proved her worth. This season they made big strides in becoming a NCAA Tournament worthy team. Yes, they didn’t make the tournament this season, but next season they will and will make some noise.

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Barnes has also been able to recruit top talent, such as Aari McDonald and Cate Reese, to get Arizona back to being a successful program. Taking a team to the WNIT Championship game will help in recruiting as future players will want to go to a school that knows what it takes to win. Plus, having someone with the name recognition and background that Barnes has helps as well.

The road to get the top of the Pac-12 will be a challenge with the likes of Stanford, Oregon and UCLA being national powerhouses in women’s basketball. Facing tough competition this season has done nothing but help this team prepare for postseason.

During the Wildcats WNIT run, Barnes has also taken it upon her self to get the word out on social media to get fans to come and support this team. Love seeing this is! It shows how much she wants to see this program be successful, plus she knows how much her players feed off the energy inside McKale Center.

After the semifinal win against a more physical and taller TCU, Coach Barnes had this to say to those in attendance and watching online:

Since she posed that challenge to fans, Barnes is now wanting to sell out McKale Center…lets do this!! Fans have responded as almost 8300 tickets have been sold (as of this post). Sell out McKale Center for a women’s game, in April?! There is a very realistic possibility that could happen. If that does happen, has to be one of the largest crowds to watch a women’s. Current capacity is 14,655.

Being a long time Wildcat fan of all sports, I have always wanted to see this program succeed, both men and women. The women have always faced an uphill battle when trying to compete with the men. The decision to hire Coach Barnes was one of the best decisions they could have made. Fast forward three seasons later and she has taken advantage of the opportunity given to her and some!

At Zona Zealots, we are extremely proud of Coach Barnes and what she has done for this program. This is just the beginning as there is sure to be much more exciting things ahead to look forward to. Up next though is the WNIT Championship, lets do this! Bear Down, Arizona!