Everything seems to be coming up roses for Adia Barnes this year.
Her team went on an incredible run to the Final Four, beat powerhouse UConn and played in the national championship game for the first time in program history. And despite coming up a little short, the Wildcats were welcomed back to Tucson with a celebration that felt like they won it all.
The Wildcats have been ranked in the Top 10 for 13 consecutive weeks this season.
But the past year has been trying for Barnes, too. Three of the most important people in her life — her grandmother, Iona Barnes; and boosters/friends Alice Chang and Mark Berman — have all died.
Chang died in July. Iona Barnes died in November. And Berman, a Tucson businessman and friend of the Wildcats’ program, died Feb. 7 after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 67.
“I’m losing all these people I care about,” Barnes said. “These things are out of my control and it’s the cycle of life,” Barnes said. “I think it makes you more appreciative and love your family a little more. I remember two years ago sitting at Mark and (his wife) Judy’s house and Salvo’s (Coppa’s) mom would be here and cook us Italian food. Mark was perfectly healthy. Then COVID happens, a couple of health things happen then — boom! — things change. Life changes in two years and he’s gone.”
Chang and Berman were big supporters of Arizona women’s basketball. Chang endured a long illness, yet still made time every Saturday morning during the pandemic to visit Barnes’ house, sit in the backyard 10 feet away and have a masked chat.
The last time Barnes talked to her was in the summer. Barnes asked the ailing Chang if she should come home from a recruiting trip to Chicago to see her.
“She said, ‘Adia, I’m not going to kick the bucket yet,’” Barnes laughed. “She laughed. I was like, ‘Are you sure?’ She said, ‘Adia, I’ll be here.’ We organized that I would come over every Monday and bring her food. Then, I got the call that she had passed away. I was the last person she talked to on the phone. I was devastated. I couldn’t believe she was actually gone.”
Berman, the owner of Benjamin Supply, also become part of the extended Barnes-Coppa family very quickly. They met at a fourth of July celebration at a cabin on Mt. Lemmon. Berman’s wife, Dr. Judy Riley, became Barnes’ OBGYN and helped her through both a miscarriage and the birth of her now 18-month-old daughter, Capri.
Riley helped take care of Capri Coppa during last year’s NCAA Tournament.
Barnes visited Berman often and before a road trip to the Oregon schools in January took her team to see him. The Wildcats took Berman Final Four gear and a made a sign that said, “We love you Mark” with photos and messages. The team also snapped photos outside his home.
“He loved it,” Barnes said, “He was so happy, and it made his spirits go up. You can see the smile on his face. … They loved me and supported me from Day 1, when I got to Arizona. He meant a lot to me, but they mean a lot to me.”
Berman was an advocate for women, especially the women’s basketball program. Barnes mentored the Bermans’ daughter, Alex, who wanted to become a coach; she is now an assistant at Emory University in Georgia.
