Adia Barnes excited about four core players' growth as training camp opens

As official training camp opened for the Arizona women’s basketball team on Monday afternoon, Adia Barnes was excited to talk about what lies ahead for her Wildcats.

Her freshman class from last season — Jada Williams, Breya Cunningham and Skylar Jones — are now sophomores … or are they?

“They were thrown into the fire last year,” Barnes said of the trio who combined to play 2,457 minutes.

These three started and collected even more minutes down the stretch as the Wildcats were limited to six or seven players after injuries and players leaving the team.

“They had tremendous experiences just in the tournament, in so many overtime games, Barnes continued. “And I think that their growth as freshmen is more like two years of growth like we saw. I always give the example of Kiki Rice at UCLA. They ended up at sophomore years playing like juniors or seniors. I think you’re going to see that same growth.

“Jada has tremendously improved. Just her body, her voice, how she approaches things, her work ethic- — everything has gone to the next level. Breya and Skylar also. I think that you’re going to see a lot from them. I think you’re going to see them lead us in so many ways, on and off the court.”

There’s also one more player from the Class of 2023 who is expected to make a splash: Montaya Dew. Dew’s debut was delayed a year after a torn ACL. She was cleared for contact in practice last spring and is hungry to play.

“Montaya faced a tremendous amount of adversity n her personal life with her mom passing — that’s a public thing, that’s not a secret — and with her tearing her ACL, so that was a lot for a young person to handle in one year,” Barnes said.

“I’ve watched her grow a lot. I’ve watched her find her voice a lot more. I think you have a new sense of being and belonging. And remember, her mom was her backbone her whole life. I think that was just something that’s going to make her stronger later. As far as work ethic in the weight room on the court, she’s hungry.”

Dew, who is the program’s highest-rated recruit at No. 8, is a 6-2 forward. Yet, she will probably play in many different positions because of her versatility. ESPN rated her as the best passer/facilitator in her class.

At the time, Shane Laflin, who does the ESPN rankings, called her a “unicorn.”

He said that Dew “makes really good decisions, is good in the ball screen, very bouncy (and) can be a defensive stopper” — and that she does things you can’t teach.

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Now, Barnes said that over the last 12 or so months — once she was cleared for practice — she’s seen Dew get stronger and improve her the consistency of her shot.

“It’s just been a long time; she really plays with a purpose right now, so that’s been good to watch,” Barnes said. “She doesn’t feel or look like a freshman. … I think she’ll be a better player later. A lot of times when you get injured as a player, you get to sit back and you get to see a lot of things that you want to change or do, how you don’t want to be, or how you want to be. That’s what it did for me.”

Another former freshman who stands out is Jones. Not only has she hit the weight room, putting on 11 pounds of pure muscle, she’s grown in a number of other ways.

Barnes said she isn’t as hard on herself if she misses a free throw or a shot. Instead, she is “using her voice to encourage other people not only worry about herself, not have a little bit less narrow in that sense.”

Jones was motivated and kept at it over the offseason, and Barnes said it shows.

“Her game is a lot better,” Barnes said. “Before, (the lefty) never went right, and now she goes right. she’s just ready, I think she’s ready to go to the next level. She’s ready to lead the team, and she wants to and I think that’s the big transition of all these freshmen. They want to lead the team. They want to bring everybody else along, and they feel like they’ve learned that. That’s been fun to be a part of.”

New in-state rival?

For the past nine years, Barnes has been trying to get a game with Grand Canyon. The time has finally come, as UA will take on GCU on Dec. 5 at McKale Center.

Barnes said she talked to coach Molly Miller, and they realized that they wanted similar things. It is often hard to schedule nonconference games, and the Wildcats didn’t have everything in place until last month.

Barnes said GCU “Playing us really makes sense. …”

“They’re down the road, and it just saves both our programs a lot of money, and all those things are factors now going into this new model coming up. Finances are important.”