'I get to be a resource': Aari McDonald growing in new role on Wildcats' staff

Aari McDonald returned to Tucson more than three-and-a-half months ago with another title.

McDonald is a WNBA player for the Atlanta Dream. She’s arguably the best Wildcat to ever don the uniform. And now she’s Arizona’s director of recruiting operations — her first step on her path to becoming a coach.

McDonald says she’s soaking it all in. Besides her recruiting duties, she sits next to Arizona coach Adia Barnes while she makes day-to-day decisions. It’s not easy; McDonald told Barnes recently that she didn’t know all that went into coaching or “I would have given you a lot more grace.”

Barnes says she’s happy to help McDonald grow. The 18th-ranked Wildcats (9-1) take on UT Arlington (6-2) on Wednesday afternoon in Texas. Arizona’s final nonconference game will air on ESPN+.

“When you are a player, you’ve done stuff for like 20 years and you don’t know why you do the stuff — you don’t know why the pivot that way,” Barnes said. “When you become a coach, you have to learn like, ‘Why did I do that? Who taught me that?’ And you have to dumb it down. That process of teaching isn’t easy for a lot of people. It’s like, ‘Why do I do that? I don’t know I just did it my whole career.’ No, you do it because you’ve learned that this helps you offensively because x, y and z. Learning how to teach it is a process. Teaching and making things simple is hard.”

The Star talked to McDonald about her new role and how she’s preparing for her third WNBA season:

You are seeing life on the other side of how coaches prepare. Win or lose, Barnes has the same routine. She takes a break, then watches film. What does it look like after a game for you?

A: “I watch film with the coaches and give my input. I probably have the easiest job on staff. I was still stressed out like them, but there’s not much I can do. I try to give my feedback when asked for it and I try to give solutions or suggestions.

“After the game, we already know ‘we didn’t do that there’ or ‘this person didn’t go their assignment.’ We pretty much know the time or quarter when that stuff happened. I’m always with Adia and Salvo. I watch extra film with them, we discuss and we try to make corrections. Adia adds something that’ll help them just adjust with the practice plan.”

I know this has been a whirlwind for you — sitting in front of a computer and watching practice and not actually practicing. What has that adjustment been like for you?

A: “I’m still trying to get used to just standing for like two hours. That’s probably the hardest part for me to adjust to. But other than that, it hasn’t really been a hard adjustment for me. I’m still involved in and around the sport I love and I get to help others. It’s not really hard for me. It’s fun.”

Your player development coach from the Atlanta Dream, Dale McNeil, posted some of your training session on Instagram a few weeks ago. What does the schedule look like for him coming to work with you in Tucson?

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A: “He tries to come once a month, but with the new year coming and training camp months away I’m going to try to get him as much as possible. Probably two to three times a month.”

Does he give you specifics to work on when he’s not in Tucson?

A: “He leaves me workouts to follow or whatever we just worked on. He’ll end me clips of myself or just players who are similar to me. Then, (UA assistant coach) Salvo (Coppa) — when he’s not busy — helps me or I’ll have a graduate assistant or even I’ll just shoot by myself.”

Before Thanksgiving, you were at Nike Kids Day in Los Angeles. How did you participate?

A: “It was all about empowering kids. I was on a panel with an Olympian (Sanya Richards-Ross) two other amazing women (Caitlin Morris, VP, Social and Community Impact at Nike; Sally Nnamani, Director of Programs and Partnerships at PeacePlayers). We were just talking about our journeys, who influenced (our) careers and who helped (us).”

What’s the best part of your new role?

A: “I get to be a resource to the girls who are currently on the team. I get to help them. At the same time, I think this is helping me in my leadership. I’ll take everything I learned here and apply it to my season.”

Do any of the current Wildcats ask you for advice? What’s that like for you?

A: “Three of the freshmen will text me or they’ll come stop by to talk to me before or after practice. Shaina (Pellington), Jade (Loville) come talk to me and ask for my input. It’s different, but at the same time I’m seeing what they can’t see in the game. They might think they are open and they’ll come ask me, ‘What did you see?’ I’m like, ‘Well, you probably could have made a different play.’ They’re very receptive when they come and talk to me and I can see that they’ll try to apply it.”