Adia Barnes and the UA women’s basketball team keeps winning, even though they haven’t taken the court since March.
Purdue forward Dominique McBryde is transferring to the Wildcats, the UA announced this week. The Bedford, Indiana, native played two seasons at Purdue. She will sit out this upcoming season and have two years of eligibility left.
McBryde joins four incoming freshmen who are expected to reshape the Wildcats’ roster. The UA went 14-16 overall and 5-13 in Pac-12 play last season, Barnes’ first as the Wildcats’ coach.
“I am so excited with the addition of Dominique to our family,” Barnes said. “She is a proven winner and has won at a high level. She has great ability to attack the basket and finishes well around the rim.”
McBryde was named All-Big Ten honorable mention last season. The 6-foot-2-inch forward started 25 games last season, and led the Boilermakers with 6.3 rebounds per game. In two years at Purdue, she grabbed 357 rebounds.
McBryde shot 54 percent from the field in conference play, the seventh-best field goal percentage in the Big Ten.
“I knew right away she was a perfect fit for our program,” Barnes said. “Her goals and ambitions match with what we are building here. Her style of play fits the Pac-12. She is a great person from a great family and that’s important to me. She has to sit out a year, yet I know that her work ethic and her maturity will help mold our younger players.”
McBryde said she doesn’t mind sitting out.
“Some may see it as a negative, but I see it as a positive,” she said. “It gives me a whole extra year to develop my game, get comfortable at Arizona and get used to the routine. I will have extra reps in practice and be there for my teammates.”
McBryde received interest from Washington, Kentucky, Virginia and Alabama, and said she seriously considered Louisville, Charlotte and Kansas State before choosing Arizona.
“I felt a presence here that was missing all my life,” she said. “I connected with coach right off the bat and I only met four of the players, yet we had an immediate connection. I could tell that Coach is taking the program in the right direction. When I was taking my other visits Arizona was always on my mind.”
McBryde found herself thinking of the Wildcats, and Barnes, often.
“When I was on my visit, we went to Coach’s house and she showed me all the giant (pool) floats she had, including a giant swan,” she said. “I didn’t ride it, but it stayed with me — that and the stories of coach trying to jump on it in the pool. A couple of weeks later I was visiting a friend and she had to go to a store to get something for her pool. In the window was a giant swan. I said, ‘Hey, my coach has the same swan.’ Even though I knew it, I went on the other visits as I wanted to do the process right this time. And I did convince my friend to buy the giant swan.”
Wildcats land 5-star
Valeria Trucco, a five-star forward from Turin, Italy, has committed to the UA for 2018. She is the No. 1 post player in Italy; scouts praise her 3-point shot and passing skills. The 6-foot-3-inch Trucco has been a member of the Italian national teams since 2015. She was a key player in last summer’s FIBA U17 Women’s World Championship, where Italy took the silver medal. Trucco averaged 7 points and 4.9 rebounds during the tournament. She will be playing in the Worlds again in August.
Trucco chose the UA over Cal and Georgia Tech. She was recruited by UA assistant coach Salvo Coppa, a native of Italy who has a history of coaching and developing talent overseas.
