First-year coach Adia Barnes is hustling; can the Wildcats keep up?

Her internal clock went sideways after an all-out summer recruiting excursion that included trips to Washington and Kentucky, Oklahoma, Chicago and Houston, with some time for Phoenix mixed in. Oh, and they also found some time for Canada, Italy and Australia.

“Right now,” Barnes said, “I really don’t know what day it is.”

Barnes has been going at a breakneck pace since she was hired as Arizona’s women’s basketball coach in April. Her task: to rebuild a program that sunk to the bottom of the Pac-12 .

For Barnes, it’s a homecoming.

She arrived at Arizona more than 20 years ago as an undersized post player. She left as All-American, Pac-12 Player of the Year, Arizona’s all-time leading scorer and a WNBA draft pick. Before Barnes’ freshman season (1994-95), the Wildcats had one winning season in the previous nine years. Arizona was 11-19 her first year, then 22-8, 23-8 and 23-7 in her last three, all ending with postseason appearances, the last a Sweet 16 bid.

After she left, Arizona didn’t have another losing season for eight years. But since then, the Wildcats have only had one winning season.

Barnes is off to the races, recruiting for the future, coaching for the present and — the tallest task — changing a culture of losing.

“A lot of my coaching style comes off how I was as a player,” Barnes said. “So I like that competitive, tough, chip on the shoulder. I’m recruiting kids like that because that’s how I was, and I like it. That’s the kid I want to coach.”

“I want kids that value the same thing, that have that fire. That’s important to me. Those are the kids I’m attracted to. It’s great to be able to go after kids I really want to build this program with. It’s exciting, and it’s selling the vision that we can be successful.”

From skipping practice

to MVP, captain

Barnes desperately wanted to play for UCLA as a San Diego high school standout. One problem: the Bruins didn’t want her to play for them.

In the fall of her senior season, she held just two offers, both from mid-majors.

Arizona coach Joan Bonvicini then showed interest. Barnes remembers Bonvicini coming into her living room, and visiting Arizona for the first time.

This is a place I could see myself at, she thought.

As a freshman, Barnes wasn’t even sure if she was any good, and the effort and motivation weren’t there from the get-go. Barnes frequently would frequently mis-set the alarm and be late for practice, or class.

Bonvicini would then accompany her to Arizona Stadium and watch her freshman run steps.

By her senior season, Barnes was a captain and arguably the best player in school history. She led Arizona in scoring all four years in Tucson, a feat accomplished by only one other player, Davellyn Whyte. Most of those points came in the low post, where Barnes was a presence. She led the Wildcats in rebounding every year, too.

“Adia likes having a chip on her shoulder and she has been successful everywhere at a very high level,” Bonvicini said. “She even exceeded my expectations.”

At one point, a Sports Illustrated writer even compared her to Charles Barkley, the NBA legend and Hall-of-Famer who was viewed as an undersized low-post player his entire career.

Barnes went on to play seven years in the WNBA, capped by a title in her final season with the Seattle Storm in 2004. Barnes spent time overseas, then became an assistant coach, and the lead recruiter, on the staff at Washington. She was a driving force behind the Huskies’ run to the Final Four last year.

Barnes draws on her experience as a head coach, especially when it comes to recruiting.

Who knows better what it means to be an Arizona Wildcat, and what that can do for a kid’s career and life, than the best player in program history?

“I can sell it more. This is the school I chose,” she said. “I didn’t have to choose it, but I was recruited. I made a decision to come here. So talking about why and talking people through that has been valuable. I have pride in this school. When you coach somewhere else, you have pride, but it’s a different type of pride.

“It’s also an additional pressure, but I don’t mind it. It’s sentimental to me because this is where it all started for me. I came here not thinking I was too good, then after my first year I was pretty dang good. I left a changed person.”

Reeling in recruits

Barnes’ hard work is already paying off.

She scrambled to recruit shortly after arriving, in part because Butts’ staff didn’t recruit anyone for the 2016-17 season.

One of her first calls was to Bria Rice, a guard from Federal Way, Washington who was wavering on a commitment to Colorado after the Buffaloes fired their head coach.

Now Rice is a Wildcat, and it’s all because of Barnes.

Why?

Rice attended a Seattle Storm basketball camp when she was a kid, and remembers being star-struck when she met Barnes for the first time. It’s a relationship that was maintained for years after that — Barnes never forgot about Rice.

“Basically, she was there for me,” Rice said. “It wasn’t just like ‘Oh, I just want you to play for my team. It was also ‘I’m there for you, I understand what you’re going through.’ It’s weird because I grew up knowing her and now I’m playing for her.”

When Barnes officially offered Rice a spot on this year’s team via a phone call, Rice couldn’t contain her excitement.

“I was just like ‘Oh my god’. I’m cheesing, I’m jumping all over the place, running all over the house,” Rice said.

Barnes kept going. She has since reeled in four-star recruit Samantha Thomas from Nevada, 6-foot-4-inch forward Kiana Chew from Florida, 6-4 center Mallory Vaughn from Oklahoma, guard Samantha Fatkin from Seattle and guard Marlee Kyles from Illinois, who picked Arizona over Syracuse.

Barnes already has one commitment for 2018, from 6-1 guard Shalyse Smith. She, like Rice, hails from Washington.

“There’s a lot of excitement in our program,” Barnes said. “Before people weren’t even considering Arizona, so they didn’t know information about Arizona. So it’s like ‘Oh, what’s Tucson like? Is that in Phoenix?’ It’s like no, it’s not Phoenix, it’s Tucson.”

Back in town

Barnes is back from the recruiting trail, and focused on the present.

Her task is even taller this time. No player currently on Arizona’s roster has been a part of a winning team. The Wildcats haven’t posted a winning mark in five years.

Fortunately for Barnes, her players seem to have bought what she’s selling.

“Everybody is basically trying to work towards what Adia is trying to make the culture, and everybody is on the same page,” said senior forward Breanna Workman. “She’s been in our place, and she’s made a way for herself. She has a lot of connections and she’s met a lot of people and done a lot of things in her life so the best thing we can do is take advantage of that.”

Few expect Arizona to be any good, and Barnes is certainly realistic about what can the Wildcats can accomplish right away — “it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” she said — but you’d be hard-pressed to find Barnes without a smile on her face, with the confidence of someone who’s been here before.

“With the players now, yeah I’m gonna discipline them and hold them accountable for things, but it’s those things that help in life. Ten years from now they’re gonna say, ‘Hey, that made me mad but I appreciate it,’” Barnes said.

“I’m OK with them being mad now. I’m making them the best they can be on and off the court. I know that while they’re on my clock they’re going to become better women. They’re going to be better people.

“These are things I know I can do, and I can be one of the best at doing that in the country. The reason why is because I’ve been in every situation. I’ve been the last person on the bench, I’ve been an All-American, I’ve been a pro player, I’ve been the best, I’ve been the worst, I’ve been on teams where I did not play. I know what it feels like, I know what it looks like to get there. I know what it’s like to be a player that everyone said couldn’t play in the Pac-12.

“I was like, ‘Oh, really?’”