Long-time Arizona associate athletic director Erika Barnes‘ decision to run her own shop, opening a consulting business — EB7 Advisory Group — should be a home run.
Her name is widely known and respected across college sports, she knows the bulk of Power 4 ADs, and she has experienced virtually every conceivable situation in her Arizona days, good and bad, from misbehavior and NCAA investigations to marketing, hiring/firing of coaches, revenue generation and fan engagement.
Erika Barnes, right, worked in the athletic department for 20-plus years at the University of Arizona, her alma mater, where she also played softball.
Every big-time school spends money on consultants every year. If Texas AD Chris Del Conte or South Carolina AD Jeremiah Donati, two former Wildcats, need a set of wise eyes from the outside to help solve a crisis, Barnes would be on their must-call list. Her portfolio would overpower those of most other consultants in college sports. Plus, not yet 50, she is in the prime of her career.
Barnes surely could’ve been on the short list of ADs under consideration at those seeking a new leader, at NAU, for example, but after all she’s been through, that would’ve been like going back to the minor leagues, using VHS tape instead of modern tech.
