When you take command of a sinking basketball ship, one that has gone 7-47 in the last three Pac-12 women’s basketball seasons, you bail water as you seek higher ground.
“Sometimes I don’t know what day it is,” says UA coach Adia Barnes. “Sometimes I go, ‘Did this happen last week, or was it two weeks ago?’”
Here’s a travel itinerary from Arizona’s important recruiting week of September 5:
Barnes and her coaching staff, flying from Phoenix to save money, wake up when it’s dark and drive to Sky Harbor Airport. The flight to Cincinnati is delayed 4 ½ hours.
After arriving in Cincinnati, the UA coaches drive 2 ½ hours to Ashland, Kentucky to visit, I presume, Blazer High School Class of 2018 point guard Mykasa Robinson, who is a Top-100 prospect.
They return late at night to Cincinnati, sleep about three hours, get up a 5 a.m. They fly to Houston to visit another Top-100 prospect. They are in such a rush that they change clothes in the airport, drive 90 minutes and spend about six hours visiting with the prospect and her family.
They return to the airport late at night, get up about 6 a.m., and fly to Seattle to visit another top prospect. Wash, rinse, repeat.
“You have to work hard, you can’t let up,” says Barnes. “We started out so far behind but I think we’ve finally made up a lot of the deficit.”
Barnes has wisely aligned herself with Sean Miller, talking recruiting, talking defense, talking about all things basketball. For the first time in memory, the UA women’s basketball team will bring recruits to campus to coincide with the men’s Red and Blue Game, on Friday night, October 14.
If you’re going to piggyback the UA men’s program, that’s one weekend to do so.
Barnes has four commitments from the Class of 2017, and over the last three weeks worked diligently to successfully arrange the enrollment and immediate eligibility of point guard Lucia Alonso Amigo, a starter on Spain’s women’s national team.
Barnes and her staff have also been wise to visit the state’s leading girls basketball player, Phoenix Seton Catholic guard Sarah Barcello, the younger sister of Alex Barcello, a Corona del Sol guard who committed to play for Arizona a month ago. Good move. The Barcellos are Arizona’s first family for basketball: Alex and Sarah’s older sister, Julia, is a starter at Colgate, and their 14-year-old younger sister, Amanda, projects as a leading Pac-12 prospect in the Class of 2021.
“We haven’t had a problem recruiting,” says Barnes. “We’ve got a lot of top players visiting campus over the next few weeks and we’ve got a lot to offer. Our message is: come to Arizona and be part of the foundation of something that is going to be fun and successful.”
