Since leading the Arizona Wildcats to the NCAA championship game, Adia Barnes is one of the most popular coaches in the country.
A few days ago, she invited Biz Tucson into her home for a photo shoot. Friday, she talked to former UA standout Channing Frye for an episode of his podcast that will drop Monday.
And Sunday, she’ll appear on a “SportsCenter” Mother’s Day special that will air throughout the day. Barnes’ first appearance will come at 5 a.m. on ESPN2.
Barnes, Chicago Sky star Candace Parker and Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings will share their stories of being a mom while playing or coaching at a high level. Their children will make appearances, too: Part of the segment includes Barnes’ 5-year old son, Matteo, coloring. He then holds up the finished product and says, “My mom is a basketball coach and I love her very much.”
Matteo finishes with a “Happy Mother’s Day.”
Barnes will be featured on a different Mother’s Day special, too — this one on ESPNURadio. ESPN’s Holly Rowe hosts a show that will feature Barnes, Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey, Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso and ESPN anchor Elle Duncan. The special can be heard on the SiriusXM app starting at 9 a.m.
As Arizona made a run to its first-ever Final Four and an appearance in the national championship game, Barnes spoke often about her role as a coach and mother. In addition to Matteo, Barnes and her husband, UA assistant coach Salvo Coppa, have a seven-month-old baby girl, Capri.
“To be a mom means the world to me,” Barnes said in a promo for the segment, “but it doesn’t mean I don’t follow my dream.”
Additions to the squad
Over the past month, Arizona has added guard Taylor Chavez and forwards Koi Love and Ariyah Copeland to the roster. Barnes said she hopes to land one more transfer — a point guard.
What goes into bringing in a transfer?
Barnes said she first looks at how the player can make her team better. She examines their flaws, too.
“When I’m thinking about ways to make us a little better and fill in the gaps, and I look at the areas that we weren’t great in the tournament,” Barnes said. “We had a tough time inside. When Stanford made a conscious effort to pound the ball inside (in the national championship game), we had problems.
“Then my thing is like, ‘OK, what can I do? How can I fill that void?’ Ithink Ariyah Copeland is a necessity, and we haven’t had a pound-the-ball-inside post player. Then I look at Koi; Koi is really versatile. She can score, she can play the 3-4 (positions). That’s an area that I felt like we haven’t had a whole lot. …
“Taylor Chavez is someone I love … I loved her game. I love the way she was scrappy. And she was a great shooter. She was fearless, tough … Taylor can play that No. 2 (guard), the 1, can shoot it — so multiple guard positions for us (she is) smart, fearless competitor, worker and plays good defense. Then Ariyah is just a bucket inside. … I’m excited about her. I think she’ll give us a totally different look inside and just the post presence.”
Barnes plans to have a more complete team, with multiple players scoring in double figures.
“To be a championship team,” she said, “you have to have that.”
A very big deal
Barnes’ new five-year, $5.85-million contract pushes her toward the top of the Pac-12, behind Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer and Oregon’s Kelly Graves.
That’s what happens when you come within one basket of winning the national championship and other schools start knocking on your door. Barnes was linked to openings at both Baylor and LSU; the UA re-did her contract as Baylor showed significant interest despite reworking her contract more than a month earlier.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, who coached alongside Barnes in the Final Four, said the UA coach’s contract “means a great deal.”
“Here’s why,” Staley said. “So often women are an afterthought for one reason or another — reasons that are beyond me. We don’t always get what we deserve. Competition is good. Adia’s name was rumored to be in talks with LSU and Baylor. For Arizona, you’ve got to step up. I don’t know if Arizona would have stepped up without the competition. Adia takes the team all the way to the national championship game.
“Now, Arizona may have been thinking, ‘We signed her up (to an extension before the tournament), and we’re covered.’ No. You have to pay the piper. I don’t mean to say it like that, but I have to. It’s all about value and Adia’s value to Arizona. It’s all about timing. Adia’s value to Arizona increased. Her stock went up when Baylor and LSU were looking to hire a new coach.
“I think there is something divine about all of it. How stuff lines up. I am super happy for Adia. There isn’t a place she’d rather be. They stepped up and she made a commitment. She’s their darling and you have to take care of your darling; take care of your own.”
More than money
Barnes said money was never her motivation — though she noted that she was lowest-paid coach in all of Power 5 when she started at the UA in 2016.
“I think money always comes,” she said. “As a player, I’ve never chosen a place like just because of more money. I always think about people, always think about my happiness, my quality of life — all those things are really important to me.
“I love Arizona. I love the fact that this is a place where I can write the story. … we do it together we leave our legacy and build it, and my challenge is to build into a powerhouse and pursuing a championship. …
“It’s where you want to be, where you want to live, how you feel. I love the community, I feel good. I have valuable friendships here. My kids are happy. It’s not only money, because if it was all about money, I wouldn’t have been here for years.”
Barnes noted that this year wasn’t the first time another school pursued her.
“I want to do something special here,” she added. “I think when you do something great, and you do it the right way, I think the money and all the other stuff comes. So that’s not the most important thing that I’m thinking about … what I want to do with my life and my happiness.”
Rim shots
Senior Sam Thomas collected another academic honor Thursday, as she was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District. This comes after collecting the Pac-12 Scholar of the Year and the national Elite90 Award. Thomas carries a 4.0 grade point average while working on her master’s in educational leadership. She earned an undergraduate degree in psychology in three years, carrying a 3.97 GPA along the way.
Copeland put up big numbers last season at Alabama, averaging 14.4 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Her 61% shooting was tops in the SEC and fourth-best in the nation.
Just how good is she?
South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston, an All-American and two-time Lisa Leslie award winner, told Barnes that “I couldn’t move her.”
