Adia Barnes

Adia Barnes

Barnes in 2024
Arizona Wildcats
Position	Head coach
League	Big 12 Conference
Personal information
Born	(1977-02-03)February 3, 1977 San Diego, California,U.S.
Listed height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight	165 lb (75 kg)
Career information
High school	Mission Bay (San Diego, California)
College	Arizona(1994–1998)
WNBA draft	1998:4th round, 32nd overall pick
Selected by theSacramento Monarchs
Playing career	1998–2010
Position	Forward
Number	32
Coaching career	2011–present
Career history
As player:
1998	Sacramento Monarchs
1999	Minnesota Lynx
2000–2001	Cleveland Rockers
2002–2004	Seattle Storm
2004–2006	Mersin BB
2006–2007	UMMC Ekaterinburg
2007–2008	Napoli Basket Vomero
2008–2009	Libertas Trogylos
2009–2010	Pallacanestro Pozzuoli
As coach:
2011–2016	Washington(assistant)
2016–present	Arizona
Career highlights and awards
As player: WNBA champion(2004) First-team All-American –USBWA(1998) Pac-10 Player of the Year(1998) 3xAll Pac-10(1996–1998) As coach: WNITchampion (2019) NCAA Regional – Final Four (2021)

Adia Oshun Barnes(born February 3, 1977) is an Americanbasketballcoach and former player. She is currently the head coach of theUniversity of ArizonaWildcats women's basketball.She played at the collegiate level for the University of Arizona, and played seven seasons in theWomen's National Basketball Association(WNBA) with theHouston Comets,Seattle Storm,Minnesota Lynx,andSacramento Monarchs.She has played internationally withDynamo KievinUkraine.Barnes has also served as a TV color analyst for Seattle Storm game broadcasts.

Early years

Barnes grew up inSan Diego, Californiaand attendedMission Bay Senior High Schoolin San Diego.She is the daughter of NFL playerPete Barnes.He and Adia's mother divorced when she was three.Over the course of her high school career, she amassed 1112 blocks, the most ever recorded by a female high school basketball player, 253 blocks ahead of second place Chris Enger.

College

At 5'11 ", Barnes wasn't as tall as most post position players at the highly regarded Division I schools. TheUniversity of Arizonahead coachJoan Bonviciniinitially didn't think she would be able to play at the post, even after watching film of her play. However, after seeing her in person, she immediately offered Barnes a scholarship, who enrolled in the school for the 1995 season. Her physical play earned her a comparison toCharles Barkleyfrom a Sports Illustrated writer. In her freshman year she earned thePac-10freshman of the year award, the first player from Arizona to win such an award.

In Barnes's sophomore year, the team earned a WNIT bid and won the championship. Barnes was named the tournament Most Valuable Player.As a junior, Barnes helped the team to their first ever NCAA appearance. They won their first game against Western Kentucky, and then lost by six points to the second seed in their bracket, Georgia.She went on to set 22 individual records for the Arizona Wildcats, including career points and rebounds, many of which are still records.She would go on to become the first women's player in Arizona to be drafted into the professional leagues.

WNBA career

Although successful as an undersized post in college, Barnes knew that she would not be able to continue as a post player in the pros, so she decided to transform herself into a guard. She originally was signed by the now-defunct Sacramento Monarchs, playing in 29 games and earning a starting position in 16 games. However, she was then traded to Minnesota and then Cleveland, and saw her playing time dwindle. She played overseas to work on her skills and concentrated on becoming a specialist. In 2002, she was traded to the Seattle Storm, who were picked to finish second to last in their division. WithSue BirdandLauren Jacksonon the team, Storm coachLin Dunnwasn't looking for a scorer, so Barnes concentrated on becoming a shut-down defender. Her work effort paid off, and she helped the team to make the playoffs in only their third year of existence.

International

Barnes also played internationally withDynamo KievinUkraine.She played for several Euroleague teams, Priolo (Italy), Elitzur Ramla (Israel), Napoli BK (Italy),UMMC(Russia), Mersin (Turkey), and Pozzuoli (Italy).

Broadcasting

In 2007, Barnes became a color commentator for the radio coverage of the Storm.She had some experience as a commentator for theWorld Championshipgames. The games were held in Brazil, but the broadcasts were done in a remote studio, making it a challenge. As of 2012, she did broadcasts of Storm games for both radio and TV, along with play-by-play announcer Dick Fain.Barnes was also the color commentator for the radio broadcasts ofSeattle UniversityRedhawkswomen's basketball games during the 2010–2011 season.

Coaching

In October 2010, Barnes was named Director of Player and Coach Development atSeattle Academy.

Barnes was approached by her Arizona coach Joan Bonvicini to see if she was interested in coaching. At the time, Barnes was still actively playing for the Storm, and turned down the opportunity.However, she enjoyed working at camps, so when the new head coach of theUniversity of Washington,Kevin McGuff,asked her in 2011 to consider coaching, he was able to persuade her, and she joined theHuskiesas an assistant coach.Barnes was named head women's basketball coach at the University of Arizona on April 4, 2016.

After a fairly rough start to her coaching career, Barnes entered her third season with the Wildcats, with high hopes. The team began the year 12–1, but ultimately struggled when it came to Pac-12 conference play. After finishing the regular season with 17 wins, their most in the regular season since 2010–11, Arizona entered the conference tournament as the No. 8 seed, knocking off USC to begin tournament play. The Wildcats would finish the year 18–13, before ultimately being selected for the Women's National Invitation Tournament.

The Wildcats guided by Barnes, would make it to the WNIT Final, knocking off Northwestern to become the 2019 WNIT Champions.

The Wildcats beat Indiana in 2021 to reach the school's first ever Final Four.

On April 2, 2021, the Wildcats beat theUniversity of Connecticut Huskiesto reach the school's firstNCAA tournamentchampionship game.

University of Arizona statistics

Source

Year	GP	GS	Min.	Avg.	FG	FGA	Pct.	3FG	3FGA	Pct.	FT	FTA	Pct.	OR	DR	Tot.	Avg.	PF-DQ	A	TO	B	ST	Pts.	Avg.
1994-95	30	24	814	27.1	191	411	0.465	1	3	0.333	81	131	0.618	103	130	233	7.8	99-5	18	89	1	40	464	15.5
1995-96	30	26	849	28.3	209	396	0.528	0	3	0	104	154	0.675	73	148	221	7.4	113-8	38	96	8	54	522	17.4
1996-97	31	31	883	28.5	232	452	0.513	1	5	0.2	133	182	0.731	112	143	255	8.2	98-4	51	101	13	86	598	19.3
1997-98	30	29	907	30.2	249	472	0.528	1	4	0.25	154	204	0.755	95	117	212	7.1	103-4	40	88	5	76	653	21.8
Career	121	110	3453	28.5	881	1731	0.509	3	15	0.2	472	671	0.703	383	538	921	7.6	413-21	147	374	27	256	2237	18.5

WNBA career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Reboundsper game
APG	Assistsper game	SPG	Stealsper game	BPG	Blocksper game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnoversper game	FG%	Field-goalpercentage	3P%	3-point field-goalpercentage	FT%	Free-throwpercentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader

†	Denotes seasons in which Barnes won aWNBA championship

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1998	Sacramento	29	16	21.3	.395	.298	.744	2.9	0.8	0.5	0.3	1.9	7.6
1999	Minnesota	19	0	4.8	.304	.333	.500	1.1	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.4	1.1
2000	Cleveland	5	0	3.6	.600	.000	.500	0.4	0.8	0.0	0.0	0.4	1.6
2001	Cleveland	3	0	1.0	1.000	.000	.000	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7
2002	Seattle	26	17	19.0	.333	.250	.517	3.9	1.1	1.2	0.3	1.0	3.5
2003	Seattle	16	16	24.8	.381	.387	.571	4.1	1.4	0.7	0.4	1.1	5.5
2004†	Seattle	34	2	11.8	.304	.500	.710	1.9	0.0	0.7	0.1	0.7	2.0
Career	7 years, 4 teams	132	51	15.3	.366	.337	.632	2.6	0.9	0.7	0.2	1.0	3.8

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2000	Cleveland	4	0	1.5	.500	.000	.000	0.3	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.5
2002	Seattle	2	2	25.0	.444	.500	.000	4.0	1.5	1.5	0.0	3.5	5.0
2004†	Seattle	6	0	6.5	.273	.000	.250	1.3	0.8	0.5	0.2	0.2	1.2
Career	3 years, 2 teams	12	2	7.9	.364	.400	.250	1.4	0.8	0.5	0.1	0.8	1.6

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Arizona Wildcats(Pac-12 Conference)(2016–2024)
2016–17	Arizona	14–16	5–13	T–9th
2017–18	Arizona	6–24	2–16	11th
2018–19	Arizona	24–13	7–11	8th	WNIT Champions
2019–20	Arizona	24–7	12–6	4th	Postseason not held
2020–21	Arizona	21–6	13–4	2nd	NCAA Runner-Up
2021–22	Arizona	21–8	10–6	4th	NCAA Second Round
2022–23	Arizona	22–10	11–7	T–4th	NCAA Second Round
2023–24	Arizona	18–16	8–10	7th	NCAA First Round
Arizona Wildcats(Big 12 Conference)(2024–present)
2024–25	Arizona	0–0	0–0
Arizona:		150–100 (.600)	68–73 (.482)
Total:		150–100 (.600)
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

Awards and achievements

• 1995—Pac-10 Conference Freshman of the Year
• 1996—WNIT Most Valuable Player
• 1998—Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year
• 1998—AP All-American (third team)
• 1998—U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-American (first team)
• University of Arizona—Points scored career 2237
• University of Arizona—Points scored single season 653
• University of Arizona—Points scored single game 35
• University of Arizona—Rebounds career 921
• 2003—Inducted into the University of Arizona Hall of Fame

Personal life

Barnes on July 4, 2012, married Salvo Coppa, a basketball coach she met in Italy.They have two children.

External links

• Career statistics and player information fromWNBA.comandBasketball-Reference.com
• WNBA player profileat theWayback Machine(archived 2014-02-02)
• Eurobasket profile
• Adia Barnes Foundation