Arizona's Adia Barnes has been named to the Naismith Women's Coach of the Year watch list, moving one step closer to college basketball's top coaching award.
The Atlanta Tipoff Club announced the list on Wednesday. The 15-person list includes, among others, national champion Tara VanDerveer of Stanford; South Carolina's Dawn Staley; Kim Mulkey of LSU โ and Kelly Rae Finley, a former UA assistant coach under Barnes who's now the acting boss at Florida.
๐จ Announcing the 2022 @wernerladderco Women's College Coach of the Year Watch List ๐จRead more about the 15 candidates in the running for this year's award: https://t.co/oHUGDbRCNW pic.twitter.com/EgtJ7POVjo
— The Naismith Trophy (@NaismithTrophy) February 16, 2022
Barnes has been a regular on the Naismith lists in recent years; in 2020, she was named a finalist for the prestigious award. Last year, she was named a semifinalist for the award, which went to VanDerveer.
Barnes and the Wildcats are 18-4 heading into this weekend's games, good for No. 8 in the national polls. National recognition has been pouring in: Cate Reese has been named to the Naismith Trophy Womenโs Player of the Year Midseason Team, while Sam Thomas is a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award.
The Wildcats will play at Washington on Friday and at Washington State on Sunday.