On Friday, at the Arizona women’s basketball media day, head coach Adia Barnes spoke with the media for the first time this season.
Here are some of the highlights from the event.
Barnes is excited to be back in front of fans: “I’m extremely excited for this year. I know that expectations are really high but I am excited for all the momentum we have and I’m excited for the chance for us to play in front of a crowd. Last year it doesn’t feel like we got the real thing and so this year to be able to play in front of a true McKale crowd is going to be really exciting.”
Barnes on what her roster looks like: “I think we have a lot of talent… I think we have a chance to be really good. I think what you’ll see is we have a lot of people, but we have a lot more depth. We score in different ways and we have a lot more girth inside, so that’s something we haven’t had here.”
She continued to talk about the roster: “It’s the best roster we’ve had, it doesn’t mean we are going to win the best but it’s the deepest roster with the deepest talent. We have a lot of players who can play a lot and that’s going to be the challenge for me, having 15 players, then 15 people can play.”
Barnes on what she expects from Shaina Pellington: “She’s capable of doing that every game [National Championship game]… Shaina can play like that every single game, and I expect her to. So the consistency she has to bring in leadership, and all those things is what she must do, especially to lead us in a point guard position.”
Barnes on the comparison of the men and women’s Final Four: “We were short handed, it was not equitable at all, not going to sugarcoat it, it was flat out crap…I think there’s a lot that has to change… If this was a men’s program and lost in the championship game it would have probably brought back like five million per year for like five years back, we bring back nothing. So, I mean that’s not fair to me at all.”
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Barnes on the possibility of five star prospects: “They haven’t signed yet so I can’t say their names but we have two of the best, two five star kids. One extremely good point guard, point guard, two guard, who are very talented that will sign here in a month, and we have another one that’s a five star kid. There’s one best in the country that’s recruited by everybody… Hopefully you’ll talk to me in a month and I’ll be like that’s great we signed who we want.”
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