Arizona basketball transfer Isis Beh revered for her character, 'poise in the paint'

The first, second and third thing Adia Barnes will tell you about transfer Isis Beh: it all has to do with character.

And, oh yeah, Beh is really good at basketball, too.

The native of Murray, Utah, is exactly the type of student-athlete UA coach Adia Barnes likes in her program. So much so, every time Beh’s name comes up, Barnes’ face lights up.

“She understands that the little things are really important,” Barnes said. “I think she gets it, and that’s what I like about her. She is a very good teammate. She’s a really good connector. And I think she’s just older and more mature so just knows how things are supposed to be done the right way. Her leadership is really showing.

“If I need to relay a message, she’s the first one who responds. Little things like that matter, because she’s reliable and consistent. And she comes from a really good family.”

When Barnes was pulling together her 2023-24 squad, Beh was one of the first transfers she locked up back in April.

On the basketball side of things, Beh — listed at 6-3, but she says she’s really 6-2 — fills a big need down low at the forward position.

Beh played sparingly at West Virginia last season — she came off the bench in 27 games — yet, in her final game for the Mountaineers, she faced none other than Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in College Park, Maryland. In that 75-62 WVU loss, Beh scored eight points, blocked a shot and picked a steal; she made all four of her field goal attempts.

Barnes, who is entering her seventh year as UA’s head coach, said Beh is really “coachable and picks up stuff really fast.

“I think what she really does well is use her body in the post,” Barnes said. “She plays at a really good pace. She doesn’t rush shots when she gets it. She gathers herself, makes sure she’s balanced. We always say, ‘poise in the post.’ She has a lot of ‘poise in the post.’”

When Beh describes her game, it’s just like she was meant to be a Wildcat in Barnes’ system: “Defensive-first mindset.”

The rest of her description might remind you of some former Wildcats, too; just pick an era.

“(I’m) super aggressive,” Beh said. “I like being physical, and at 6-2, I’m undersized in the post, but I like going against bigger people.

“It’s fun to stop someone who’s supposed to be a big-time scorer at 6-7, but they can’t score against me.”

A long path to Arizona

Beh’s journey to Arizona had lots of starts and stops. Her freshman year was at UNLV. Then she moved to Salt Lake City Community College, but she injured her femur, leading her to redshirt the next season at West Virginia. She played last season as a Mountaineer.

For those keeping score, Beh has lots of UA connections. She played with Bailey Thomas, former UA standout Sam Thomas’ older sister at UNLV. She also was at West Virginia with fifth-year senior Esmery Martinez. It was in Morgantown where she played under current UA assistant coach Bett Shelby, then a WVU assistant coach.

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All three have had a positive influence on her life. Bailey Thomas, who was a senior when Beh was a rookie at UNLV, led by example by working hard and focusing on defense. She kept everyone calm.

Seeing a familiar face in Martinez as she was looking to transfer — and as she has transitioned to Tucson — has made things smoother.

And then there’s Shelby. The two have a special bond that started back when Beh was looking for a new landing spot after her injury.

“She’s one of the first coaches that I’ve had that actually cared about me, as a person,” Beh said of Shelby. “I can trust her and she wouldn’t steer me wrong.”

Shelby was one point that drew Beh to Arizona when there was another change in head coaches — second in two years at West Virginia — and she was looking for a new home.

But when Beh came on her visit, it was Barnes who also connected with her in a way no other coach had.

“She was herself,” Beh said of Barnes. “She wasn’t trying to act a certain way for her image. I’ve never had a Black coach before — a Black woman. We were talking about hair and stuff like that. … Now, (being in Tucson this summer) it’s the same thing. She just stayed the same.”

Where it all started

It all started for Beh when her dad, Issacher, who played hoops at Humboldt State, put a basketball in her hands at the age of five. When she was in middle school, she went to the gym with him every day. Still, it wasn’t until she was a sophomore in high school, when she made varsity and played against tougher competition that she was hooked.

Besides her dad, her older brother Issacher, Jr., also influenced her. He played Division 3 ball at Vassar College. She saw up close that “if you put in the time and the work you can do things.”

For Beh, it’s family first. She has enough siblings to field two basketball teams — 10 in total. Three older: Morgan (27), Iasia (26) and Issacher (24). The rest are younger: Ileah (20), Iyana (18), Isaiah (15), Josie (11), Hunter (10) and Jacobi (5).

Being closer to home means a lot, too. Not only can they come to see her play games — Murray, Utah is a suburb of Salt Lake City — the two youngest were in Tucson for Barnes’ camp in June.

She is motivated by her siblings. That especially goes for Isaiah, who as a freshman played on varsity at Murray High School. It’s hard not to be when he texts her, “I’m so proud of you. I want to be like you.”

These days Beh doesn’t take anything for granted as she knows it could all be gone in an instant.

“Growing up, there was times where we didn’t have that much because there are so many of us,” Beh said. “Anything you get is a blessing. When I had to go to JUCO, it was back to that same mentality. Going from a D1 to a JUCO, you realize how much you really had at that level.

“It (still) feels surreal (to be at Arizona). When my dad was on the visit with me, we just kept saying to each other, ‘Is this real life? Is this real life? Are we really here?,’” she added. “But it feels great to be here especially because I’ve been through so much within my basketball career during college. It feels good being at a program like this.”

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