The University of Arizona women’s basketball team has seen many departures since its season-ending 71-69 collapse to NAU on March 20. Head coach Adia Barnes is no exception to this trend, as Barnes is taking on a new head coaching position at Southern Methodist University.
SMU announced the decision on Saturday, following the exit of seven Arizona players who have entered the transfer portal.
Barnes spent nine seasons as head coach for the Arizona’s women’s basketball team, joining her alma mater in April of 2016. She was entering the last year of her contract that was signed in 2021, lasting through the 2025-2026 season and was on terms for 5 years, $5.85 million.
Despite the Wildcats not reaching the NCAA Tournament this year, their falling short this year does not overshadow the success Barnes has brought to the program. Barnes, a former WBCA Coach of the Year Finalist and Naismith Coach of the Year Semifinalist, helped the Wildcats reach six consecutive postseason appearances, four of them in the NCAA. One of these appearances included a trip to the 2021 NCAA Championship game.
Just last season, Arizona earned its fourth consecutive and 11th overall bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats had notable victories in the 18-win season, including over programs like No. 15 University of Utah and No. 3 Stanford University. Additionally, the victory over the Cardinals was the Wildcats’ highest-ranked road win in program history and the first in the Maples Pavilion since 2001.
In the 2022-2023 season, Arizona marked its fifth 20-win season while reaching its tenth NCAA Tournament berth. The Wildcats were ranked in the AP Top 25 for the entirety of the season, recording five top-25 wins as well.
The 2021-2022 season saw Barnes become the first coach in program history to secure 20+ victories in four straight seasons. Arizona competed and hosted the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998. Notably, the Wildcats also reached a record-breaking AP national ranking that season as fourth in the nation.
Barnes became the youngest head coach since 2014 to see the Final Four as well as the first coach since 2016 to reach the Final Four in their first five years at the helm. During the NCAA Tournament, Arizona knocked off the University of Connecticut in the Final Four. This was the first time in program history that Arizona defeated a No. 1 team in the nation as well as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Barnes also aided Arizona in becoming the first team ever to reach the national championship game after being absent in the previous 10+ NCAA Tournaments.
“On behalf of the University of Arizona community, we want to thank Adia [Barnes] for her nine seasons as our head coach and her profound impact on Arizona Women’s Basketball,” Arizona Director of Athletics Desireé Reed-Francois said in a statement. “She helped elevate our program and created lifetime memories for our student-athletes, coaches and fans […]. Our national search for a new head coach is already underway, and we are confident that our candidate pool will be strong.”
Barnes’ early April departure means that she will have to owe a $300,000 buyout to Arizona, due to her leaving before April 30.
With the impression Barnes was going to leave next season, Reed-Francois can now begin her search for a new head coach one year early. The Wildcats are the fourth Arizona Division Ⅰ school (Arizona, ASU, NAU and GCU) who will be welcoming a new coach next season.
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