Adia Barnes is receiving an honor that’s uniquely Tucson.
The UA women’s basketball coach will serve as the grand marshal for the Tucson Rodeo Parade, which will be held Feb. 24 starting at 9 a.m. (That night, Barnes and the Wildcats will host UCLA in McKale Center.)
The parade, held as part of La Fiesta de los Vaqueros, has long been a point of pride among locals. Founded in 1925, the Tucson Rodeo Parade is the largest non-mechanized parade in the United States. The parade is scheduled to return this year after it was canceled last year due to the pandemic.
Barnes becomes the fourth UA coach to serve as the parade’s grand marshal, joining men’s basketball coach Lute Olson (1988), softball coach Mike Candrea (2002) and baseball coach Jerry Kindall (2015). All three are hall-of-famers in their respective sports.
It’s been a banner year for Barnes. Last spring, Barnes led the Wildcats to their first-ever Final Four and to within one basket of a national championship, received two separate raises and contract extensions — she now makes $1 million annually — and rebuffed job interest from national powerhouse Baylor. This winter, Barnes delivered the best recruiting class in program history and pushed the Wildcats into the top five of the national rankings.
Earlier this month, the Star’s Greg Hansen named Barnes and husband Salvo Coppa as Southern Arizona’s top sports figures of the year.
Barnes and the eighth-ranked Wildcats (15-3, 5-3 Pac-12) will host No. 19 Oregon and Oregon State this weekend in one of the biggest homestands of their season.
