Adia Barnes is not a poker player.
Still, she knows when to play it close to the vest and when to bet the house.
And she definitely knows when she is holding a winning hand.
This yearโs Arizona Wildcats boast Pac-12 defensive player of the year Aari McDonald, Pac-12 defensive team member Sam Thomas and Cate Reese, and anything seems possible. The Wildcats have added transfers to the mix, too: Canadian National Team member Shaina Pellington and the ACCโs sixth person of the year, Trinity Baptiste, figure to contribute to a team that was headed for the NCAA Tournament in March before the coronavirus hit.
Itโs no wonder Arizona was ranked No. 7 in ESPNโs way-too-early poll.
While Barnes doesnโt put much stock in the polls, she did listen to Annie Duke, former professional poker player and author of a book called โThinking in Bets.โ
โI had no idea, but there are lots of parallels between coaching and poker,โ Barnes said. โIt was something that I never thought of. She was brilliant and related a lot to poker. Iโm not a poker player so I never thought about it, but it was so informative.โ
Duke was a speaker on a series of calls set up this summer by Arkansas womenโs basketball coach Mike Neighbors. The calls were a way for Neighbors, Barnesโ former boss at the Washington, to fill the void left during the pandemic. He missed talking about books and other things in hotel lobbies and bars while on the road.
Attendance on the calls grew from eight to 100 during the summer. Coaches watched, and so did executives from companies like Nike and Walmart.
The name of the series โ โThe Zoom Where it Happensโ โ is a play on the song from โHamilton,โ โThe Room Where it Happens.โ
Barnes said Neighbors is โso connected and so good at putting stuff together.โ
โHe has a different approach to stuff. He thinks outside of the box with everything,โ she said. โHeโs the best at growing the game and sharing knowledge. He loves to do it and I love that about him.โ
While on the calls, Barnes learned from former Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers assistant Kevin Eastman and author Joshua Medcalf.
Eastman shared NBA stories, focusing on leadership and what it takes to be the best โ and how to coach them.
Medcalf, who was a mental training coach for UCLAโs womenโs basketball team, taught that you have to train to be clutch.
However, it was Dukeโs talk that really resonated with Barnes.
โShe makes decisions not knowing a lot of information, which is similar to basketball,โ Barnes said.
โOne of the first things she said was, โlife is like poker, not chess.โ Poker is luck with imperfect information. That is similar to coaching. As a coach, we always make decisions with limited information. Every decision in life is poker-like. Your beliefs lead to your decision. Betting and percentages go into making your decisions. In your program you bet on future availability.
โIn addition, people react to losing in two ways โ some people become conservative (while) others analyze. This is interesting. What I didnโt know is that it is all guessing โ like a (basketball) game. Things change all the time and you donโt know whatโs going to happen.โ
Barnes and the other participants on the calls didnโt just listen to the speakers. Many held follow-up calls to discuss how these lessons apply to their teams.
โThey donโt mind sharing and being vulnerable,โ Neighbors said. โThey asked questions that they might not be comfortable in other places. They asked good questions and hard questions that drove discussions to places we all benefited.โ
Barnes hosted calls, too โ one including coaches from the UAโs softball, volleyball, golf and tennis teams and Jim Rosborough, a Pima College assistant coach and former assistant to Lute Olson at the UA.
Barnes and UA assistant coach Salvo Coppa also had an Xโs and Oโs call with Ettore Messina, a former San Antonio Spurs assistant coach who now runs Olimpia Milano of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A.
โWe talked about defense and strategy,โ Barnes said. โWe showed him film on some stuff we struggle with and he gave input and explained why he thought we had a tough time in certain situations. It was awesome.โ