In the most unusual of seasons, the Arizona Wildcats deserved something special.
Coach Adia Barnes and Jessika Carrington, the UA’s director of operations, cooked up a surprise as the Wildcats departed for the Pac-12 Tournament on Tuesday.
As the Wildcats walked to their team bus to take them to the airport, they were surrounded and cheered on — at a distance — by UA football coach Jedd Fisch and his team, the Wilbur and Wilma mascots, athletic department staffers and some fans.
“I think stuff like that is just special,” Barnes said. “I think our players should be proud of that, because people are really invested in our program. They care about us. To have the fans there — they haven’t been to a game all year. They’ve only been watching us on TV. To take their time out of their day and come down to McKale to see us off, I think it’s really nice. And our players should be thankful for that.”
The fun continued on the charter flight to Las Vegas. Carrington planned a “Party in the Sky” to help the Wildcats get excited for the postseason.
“We had a celebration on the plane … it was really cute with glow sticks, glasses. We put on the music they liked, danced. We had those little — it looked like champagne, but it’s Martinelli’s apple cider bottles,” Barnes said. “It was really cute. I think they loved it. We surprised them with that right before we landed. (It was) just fun because we don’t get a lot a lot of team bonding and stuff because of the COVID situation. … We’re missing that. Just to have fun, let loose a little bit. I think it’s cool. Our players are happy and motivated right now.”
Even if Las Vegas is, as Barnes said, “so different” during the pandemic. The UA’s coach was 30 minutes late to her own news conference after having to wait for a COVID-19 test.
“It’s crazy. It doesn’t even feel like we’re in Vegas,” she said. “But I think the Pac-12 has done a really good job of keeping us separate. We haven’t really interacted with anybody or seen anybody else besides the teams.”
More accolades
This was a big week for awards and watch lists.
Arizona guard Aari McDonald was named the Pac-12’s Player of the Year and Co-Defensive Player of the Year. Sam Thomas was named to the conference’s all-defensive team for the second straight year. Thomas and teammate Cate Reese made the All-Pac-12 team.
Wednesday, Barnes was named a semifinalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year for a second consecutive year.
McDonald is a semifinalist for the Naismith Player of the Year and a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award for best point guard in the nation.
Barnes says the accolades show just how far the program has come.
“One of the biggest things is recognizing the transformation of this program,” Barnes said. “I think that makes me the most proud because we weren’t even in conversations with anything — even three years ago. Two years ago, we made some noise in the NIT. First of all, going into the NIT no one thought we’d win it. Then not being able to go to the tournament. The fact that people even recognize us and talk about us, I think it’s just a huge thing.”
At any position, a UA star
McDonald won the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award last season as the best shooting guard in the nation.
This year, McDonald switched to play point guard but was still on the Drysdale Award’s watch list. Wednesday, she was named a semifinalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award — given to the best point guard in the nation. The Wildcats consider McDonald primarily a point guard, since it’s the position she’ll play in the pros.
Winning the Lieberman Award a year after winning the Drysdale Award would be “great for Aari,” Barnes said. “I think it’d be pretty incredible.”
Big strides for women
This week, four prominent female athletes — basketball player Sue Bird, soccer player Alex Morgan, swimmer Simone Manuel and snowboarder Chloe Kim — co-founded TOGETHXR, a media company that will showcase untold women’s stories in lifestyle, culture and sports.
Barnes said she was excited for Bird, her former Seattle Storm teammate.
“To start a business to help women be covered is huge, Barnes said. “… I thought that was pretty awesome to have a WNBA star that is a phenomenal woman that so many people listen to, look up to, aspire to be … to tell stories and to go tell stories on women that aren’t told. I thought that’s pretty remarkable. And no one talks about these things in women’s sports. It’s just not a thing.”
Rim shots
- Oregon State defeated Cal in Wednesday’s first game, and moves on to the quarterfinals against Oregon. Thursday’s game will mark the in-state rivals’ first matchup against each other in the Pac-12 Tournament. OSU finished the regular season on a four-game winning streak, including Sunday’s 88-77 win over Oregon. Oregon State Coach Scott Rueck said there is always “a little bit of chess being played” between the Ducks and Beavers.
- At one point, Wednesday’s OSU-Cal game featured six freshmen on the floor, including two early enrollees.
- UCLA coach Cori Close kept her Bruins at home for an extra day, arriving in Las Vegas on Wednesday. The choice to stay home a little longer was all about maintaining routines, Close said.
Close says her team has been training for the postseason all season long.
“We have a phrase in our program that ‘the work done in the dark always gets revealed in the light,’” Close said. “We’re excited to show what our work is, what kind of work we’ve been putting in. These young women have been really committed. And I’m excited for that.”
ASU lost its first-round game to USC, 71-65. The Sun Devils will hope for an invitation to the WNIT.
