Arguably the greatest woman’s basketball player in Arizona Wildcats history is back in Tucson.
Aari McDonald was introduced Friday as the Wildcats’ new director of recruiting operations.
McDonald started the new job a week ago; the Atlanta Dream guard will stay with the Arizona Wildcats until the WNBA season begins in the spring.
“I’m excited to be back in a place that I call my second home. I want to thank Coach Barnes and (athletic director Dave) Heeke and just the whole athletic department for giving me a chance and letting me come back to my alma mater.” McDonald said.
The No. 3 pick in the 2021 WNBA Draft, McDonald played her rookie season for the Dream then spent a brief time with Hungary’s Uni Gyor before asking them for her release.
McDonald posted to Instagram that wanted to “focus on my mental health and to get my body and mind healed to be 100% for the 2022 WNBA season.”
The guard was better in almost every way in her second season, posting career highs in minutes per game (24.3), points per game (11.1), rebounds per game (1.8), assists per game (2.4) and steals per game (1.4). She started six of the Dream’s 36 games after starting four as a rookie.
Barnes said she wanted to bring McDonald back to Tucson, especially if — as expected — McDonald decided not to return to Europe this offseason.
McDonald said she was interested, but Barnes had her wait just in case she wanted to go back overseas. Once Barnes saw that McDonald was indeed rejecting offers to go overseas, the coach moved quickly.
“We had the opening, but I would have tried to create something for her to be here,” Barnes said. “This is a good start for her to learn what it’s like to coach, to make sure this is something she wants to do and just to learn and recruiting and different things and grow. When she retires in 10 years or something, she will want to walk into coaching.”
Arizona forward Cate Reese, who played alongside McDonald, said she was thrilled to have her former teammate back in a new role.
“We played together for three years — we have a great relationship,” Reese said. “I’m happy she’s back. We joke around like old times. It is exciting to have her back and bring her competitiveness to the staff and her personality.”
When the WNBA season is underway, McDonald’s sole focus will be on the season. McDonald will work with Barnes and assistant coach Salvo Coppa while she’s in Tucson to get ready for the rigors of a long season. She won’t be on the road recruiting, but will instead communicate with future Wildcats by phone from Tucson.
During McDonald’s time as a Wildcat, she set a program record for points per game and was a three-time AP All-American, two-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and one-time Pac-12 Player of the Year. In 2020, she won the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, given to the top shooting guard in the nation.
