With the national signing period a week away, Arizona Wildcats coach Adia Barnes is preparing for a haul of high-level recruits for the 2022 class.
“The players we’re signing in a couple days can help us win a championship,” Barnes said.
Barnes, of course, is a firm believer that this year’s team is more than capable of winning it all, calling it her deepest since arriving at Arizona.
But the 2022 recruiting class that Arizona’s bringing in could keep the Wildcats at the elite level for years to come.
The Wildcats have already received verbal commitments from three players in ESPN’s Top 100 recruiting rankings. Maya Nnaji (No. 9), Kailyn Gilbert (No. 31) and Lemyah Hylton (No. 95) are all expected to sign letters of intent on Nov. 10.
But there’s one more player who could push Arizona over the top.
Kiki Rice, the nation’s top point guard and No. 2 overall player in the 2022 recruiting class, will pick Thursday afternoon between Arizona and four of the sport’s biggest programs — UConn, Stanford, UCLA and Duke.
Barnes can’t talk about recruits until they sign, but said it takes talent to compete with the best in the country.
“You’re competing against the elite programs,” she said. “But you need those players to get you over the hump.”
Let Shaina be Shaina
This season marks the first time since 2018 that someone not named Aari McDonald is playing point guard for the Wildcats.
The role will be filled by Shaina Pellington, a senior who played for Team Canada in the Tokyo Olympics. Before the season began, Barnes made sure to halt any comparisons involving the two point guards.
“We don’t talk about that. I don’t want that for anybody in the program,” Barnes said. “I want Shaina to be the best version of Shaina.”
Barnes says no one on the Arizona roster is expecting — or even asking — Pellington to be the second coming of McDonald, the former Arizona great now playing in the WNBA.
“If I were to compare her (to Aari) and put that pressure, I think it’s unnecessary,” she said.
Barnes ultimately wants Pellington to use her experience to become a better player.
“Shaina is so different than she was last year,” Barnes said. “Giving her the confidence to grow into her own and have her own identity.”
Pellington said she’s ready to handle the spotlight.
“I think I’m just able to lead my team better as a point guard,” she said. “On the floor, I’m more composed and more confident with the ball and getting in the hands of the right people.”
Chavez’s significance
If there was one major flaw about last year’s Wildcats, it was their lack of a true 3-point shooter.
“Everybody in the country knows,” Barnes said. “We didn’t shoot the ball well.”
It’s why Oregon transfer Taylor Chavez will be a key component of the Wildcats’ roster in 2021, whether as a full-time starter or one of the first subs off the bench.
Chavez went 4 for 6 from 3-point range in her UA exhibition debut last Thursday.
“Taylor was really critical because she enables us to spread the floor and Shaina’s really fast at getting to the rim,” Barnes said. “When we can open up the floor, we can open up the lanes.”
