Wildcats' Helena Pueyo in great shape, on 'a whole 'nother level,' coach Adia Barnes says

Adia Barnes has her finger on the pulse of her program.

By the time her Wildcats players arrive in Tucson at the end of each summer, the UA coach has a pretty good idea of what to expect from them — on and off the court.

Helena Pueyo is the exception.

Barnes is amazed with what she’s seen from the 6-foot-1-inch senior guard.

“Pueyo is in the best condition I’ve seen her in the last four years,” Barnes said. “She came back extremely fit, strong, better leader. You (ask) the people that amaze me? Pueyo. … incredible. Shooting the ball well, great off the dribble. She’s going to have her best year yet.”

Then Barnes knocked on wood.

“Guaranteed or kind of guaranteed. But she should,” Barnes said. “She’s been, I think, at a whole ‘nother level.”

Pueyo has averaged between 21.5 and 21.8 minutes per game in each season since joining the Wildcats as a freshman. She put up 6.7 points as a freshman and 3.7 points as a sophomore; those numbers dipped to 3.4 last season.

Pueyo spent her summer playing for the Spanish 3x3 team, where she won gold. The new sport, which is played in the half court, debuted at last summer’s Olympics.

She returned with “a different focus,” Barnes said. “It’s a different level. It is a different confidence. Her body is different, everything.”

Pueyo said she feels more comfortable in the Wildcats’ system, understands Barnes’ defense and knows what to do in every possession. This has come with time and reps in and out of practice.

“I see a lot of improvement from my first year,” Pueyo said. “I think I am a better defensive player and I’m still working on my speed. I see a different person from that person.”

If Barnes has her way, Pueyo will stay in Tucson for a fifth year.

Barnes has already started recruiting Pueyo to stay for a fifth year. For now, Pueyo is focused on what’s in front of her. This includes adding a more consistent dimension to her offense: driving to the hoop.

“We’re working on attacking the basket more, instead of just standing on the 3-point line,” Pueyo said.

Freshmen standing out

Barnes may not know exactly who her starters are or the rotations a month away from the home opener against NAU on Nov. 10, but one thing she knows for sure is that freshmen Maya Nnaji, Kailyn Gilbert, Paris Clark and Lemyah Hylton are pushing their teammates every day in practice.

This looks familiar to Barnes.

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“That reminds me of Shaina (Pellington) and Aari (McDonald) two years ago,” Barnes said. “Kailyn is really competitive. I like the fact that a freshman doesn’t back down. It’s been a really good, healthy thing.”

Transfer Jade Loville added: “(Shaina) and Kailyn, it’s so much fun to watch them go back and forth. That’s the competition that we love. That’s why we play basketball, just for the competition. It’s exciting just going at your teammate and knowing it’s all love but it’s just making us better today. I think it’s going to be really exciting to watch.”

The other two guards — Clark and Hylton — are also adding intensity to practices.

Nnaji, a post player, is living up to the hype.

“Maya has a really strong post presence inside,” Lauren Ware said. “She’s a strong body. For me, that’s really good to help me work on my balance and just finishing over taller players. Her height and her defensive presence — that helps me a lot in practice.”

Making a big jump

Lauren Ware has a different mindset entering her junior season. The UA center said she learned a lot last season after Cate Reese went down with a dislocated shoulder.

“Now I know what I am capable of, and I have that confidence in myself,” Ware said. “So that’s something that I’m going to do every game.”

That means understanding and being more comfortable in her role, as well as being consistently aggressive. Ware will also be showing off some new counter moves in the post.

“I’ve gotten a lot stronger on the block with my finishes,” Ware said. “That’s something that coach Salvo (Coppa) really instilled in me — that I had to be more of a post presence. Obviously, I have an OK shot, I can spread the floor but just being a strong post presence for us this year is my main focus and that’s something I worked on a lot this summer.

“A lot of stuff in the weight room has helped me and just kind of strengthening my base and my legs, but Coach Salvo was good at altering my workouts to specifically fit me. Balance is something that I’ve been working on since my freshman year and have improved on a lot but he really lets me take my time when I’m doing my moves in practice. Even if I’m going literally like 25% speed, that’s something that has helped me a lot and has improved my balance. It really wasn’t any agility drills. It was more so doing the basic moves that I had been doing but at a way slower pace.”

Rim shots

Pac-12 Networks won a Rocky Mountain Regional Emmy award for the show “Our Stories: Made For It: The 2020-21 Arizona Wildcats.” The special looked at UA’s run to the 2021 national championship game.

The Wildcats have sold more than 5,500 season tickets, a program record.

Hylton’s favorite community service project was sorting books for Los Ranchitos Elementary School in the Sunnyside School District. “It was a big team effort,” Hylton said. “Trying to do it with the number of books that we had to sort, organize and counting and making sure it was going to the right locations. Boxing them — it was a lot of work. We all had to work together as a team. The collaboration piece was really good.”

The Wildcats hosted a number of recruits on their visits in recent weeks. The players went rollerskating and teed off at Top Golf, among other things. Hylton, a Canadian, said the skating “made me feel like I’m back at home again.” The best golfer on the team was Esmery Martinez.