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Former Arizona women’s basketball coach Adia Barnes was officially introduced as the new leader of the SMU program on Thursday. Barnes opted to leave her alma mater for Dallas after the 2024-25 campaign.
The coach opened up on that decision in a Facebook post Tuesday night. She essentially called the Wildcats poor after walking out the door.
Barnes noted a lack of NIL support when addressing the move to SMU. She says it not only played a role in her leaving, but also in Arizona’s inability to keep talent on the roster.
“We changed Arizona WBB and put it on the map… I came to Arizona when it was the lowest paying job in the P5. No one could recruit talent to Tucson, the program was a mess. We changed things. We were relentless recruiters… We won a ton with limited resources. Now that there is the portal, you cannot sustain success without resources. So, naturally, you will lose 5-7 players per year when they don’t get paid.”
-Adia Barnes via Facebook
Adia Barnes played for Arizona between 1994 and 1998. She’s the program’s all-time leading scorer. She averaged 21.8 points per game to lead the PAC 12 as senior. She then went on to land the Wildcats’ head coaching job after a WNBA career.
Barnes took over in 2016-17 amid a stretch of nine losing seasons in 10 years. She posted five straight 20-win campaigns starting in Year 3, one of which included a run to the Final Four.
Her last two seasons, unfortunately, have been subpar by the standards she set. She suggests NIL played a role. Arizona is just 37-30 over that time. They missed out on the NCAA Tournament this past year.
She opted to drop her Arizona loyalty due to a lack of investment from the athletic department. She believes she’ll receive more support at SMU.
Adia Barnes pillaged Arizona’s roster after calling the Wildcats poor.
Not only is Barnes headed to Dallas, but it appears a number of players and recruits are, too. The current women’s basketball roster shows just one holdover in Montaya Dew. Everyone else is gone!
It appears everybody has been removed from Arizona’s roster except for Montaya Dew. pic.twitter.com/KIan42IH1Z
— Jason Scheer (@jasonscheer) April 10, 2025
Both of the Wildcats’ 2025 signees announced decisions to flip to the Mustangs. Former four-star recruit Sahnya Jah is also likely to follow. Others could choose to do the same.
More than 10 players from last year’s lineup have entered the portal. The Arizona team will be full of new faces next season. Many might come from Buffalo, where Adia Barnes’s replacement, Becky Burke, last coached.
Burke and her staff will be tasked with finding new talent to fill voids this offseason. If her predecessor’s previous comments are any indication, there won’t be much money to spend on the recruiting trail.