Becky Burke on Wildcats’ potential, offseason of change and conquering the Ironman

That’s because her team is on campus — her mostly new team — and the work for the 2026-27 season is underway.

Burke is entering Year Two as Arizona’s women’s basketball coach. After a condensed and delayed offseason a year ago, Burke had the full allotment of time to make significant changes.

She altered the composition of the coaching staff. She overhauled the roster. Nine of Arizona’s 12 players are new. Ten have never suited up for the Wildcats.

After a difficult first season, Burke likes where the UA program sits today — and where it could be headed.

“I'm very optimistic,” Burke said on the latest episode of “The Wildcast” podcast. “I know we have a long way to go. I'm not going to sit here and promise a Big 12 championship tomorrow. But the potential this group has — it's a different feel in the gym, it's a different level of talent in the gym.

“We know that that's not enough. We know that that's half the battle. There’s a lot of things that have to go right for us. There's a lot of work left to do.”

Burke talked about her bigger — and theoretically better — squad with the Star’s Michael Lev and Justin Spears. They discussed key returnees, talented newcomers, Burke’s new offensive coordinator and other offseason happenings. The conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity. The full interview can be heard on The Wildcast feed.

How advantageous was it to have an entire year here to see what you have, then a whole portal period to really dive in and address your personnel needs?

A: “Year One ... there were so many unknowns with these players that we got. I loved every single one of them. I think we squeezed every ounce we could out of our group, and I'm really thankful for their time here.

“I don't think people realize that every single day in the portal is of the utmost importance. This year, I think we had our entire team ... within the first, probably, seven days of that thing being open. When I look back, I realize that I got hired three weeks into the portal being open last year. It makes it that much crazier. ... I can't believe we even had people in uniforms last year.

“So it's a really good feeling having time before the portal opens to watch social media and see which people are announcing they're going in. You're really doing work before that thing even opens. You're not talking to anybody (or) doing anything illegal, but you're really seeing what the landscape is looking like and who you may be interested in, who you may not be interested in. That allows you (in) that time shortly after the portal opens to really get down to business and figure out who's going to be here.”

Three players are back from last season: guards Sumayah Sugapong and Molly Ladwig, plus center Callie Hinder, who enrolled midyear and redshirted. Why was it important to return those players?

A: “(Sumayah) was one of the best players in the Big 12 in the last month of our season. Unfortunately, we didn't have the team success that was going to allow her to get postseason awards and things like that. But if you look at the last four weeks of the Big 12 season, Sumayah is in the conversation for being one of the best, probably, 10 players in our league. (Sugapong averaged 16.6 points in 10 games in February and March.)

“To see her grow, her confidence grow, and to see her game just explode the last month of Big 12 play, it was a no-brainer for us. We needed to keep her around — not to mention the fact that she's just a great character person, great student and a great leader (whom) you want in your locker room.

“We brought (Callie) in midyear, and we developed her quite a bit. We got her acclimated to what we are going to be about here at Arizona. She had some great practice reps for a few months. Obviously, that's somebody you want to hang on to at 6-foot-6, 6-foot-7. That's really going to provide something (that) in the past year we have not had.

“Molly, she's the hardest worker in the room. She's the most coachable player on our team. She does all the little things that you ask her to and she's a great culture kid. So I couldn't be happier with those three.”

You brought in a lot of size and talent in the offseason. Two of those players, Aliyahna “Puff” Morris and Arynn “Simba” Finley, played together at Etiwanda High School in Southern California. What do those two add to the team?

A: “Anytime you can get two players from a powerhouse in the state of California that have won multiple state championships there together, that's a really good thing for us.

“Arynn ... was committed to Florida. She's an SEC-length-athleticism-and-talent kid, and I think that says a lot because that's arguably the best league in the country. It was really nice to get somebody out here ... that moves and looks a little different than anybody we've had here so far as a freshman.

“She's never played hard enough in her life; she's never been coached the way we're about to coach her, so that's been a shock to her. But that pure, natural talent has gotten her as far as it has. Now, if we can get her to play hard, if we can get her IQ where it needs to be, if we can push her a little bit, it's going to be scary what she's going to be able to do.

“As far as Puff goes, it's been fun to see her mentor (Finley), them coming back together, Puff being at Cal for a year while Simba was finishing her senior year at Etiwanda — them coming back together and seeing Puff wrap her arms around Arryn, guide her and lead her. Puff does have a little bit of experience at this level.

“It’s been fun to see Puff come to Arizona and get her confidence back and really be empowered to play the way that that she wants to play, which I don't think was the case at her last school. It's been really fun to see a smile on (her) face.”

One of your European imports, Karolina Ulan, has pro experience overseas. What do you expect from her?

A: “Karolina has played EuroLeague for two years. She's (21) years old coming in here to Arizona and it's been really fun. She's a pro. ... It's hard to miss on those types of players because they have proven at those levels their productivity, their statistics, ability, just their pro mindset.”

She has a similar profile to Ivan Kharchenkov on the men’s team. Do you think she’ll have a similar impact?

A: “Yeah, absolutely. You look at Ivan and just his physical stature and how ready he was for the Big 12 and that's the exact same thing that I expect from Karolina. She's 6-1, 6-2 on the wing, big and tough, and she's not gonna see anything in the Big 12 that she hasn't seen in EuroLeague.”

You reeled in Todd Starkey from the mid-major ranks. He was the head coach at Kent State for 10 years and competed against you in the MAC when you were at Buffalo. Why did you want to bring him aboard?

A: “After Year One here, it was really obvious the holes you have in your staff. You don't figure it all out in Year One with your roster and you don't figure it all out in Year One with your staff either. So there had to be some changes made.

“One thing that I really wanted was some more experience, preferably some head-coaching experience, somebody that's competed for championships where they've been, been successful, somebody that I highly respect and admire and just somebody that ... has the same mindset and (will) be in alignment with me.

“(During) my three years at Buffalo, he spent a lot of time kicking my butt. We got him a couple times, but (he was) somebody that, going through scouting reports, I always just admired how his teams played, their discipline, how offensive-minded he is.

“I'm a defensive-minded head coach. I need an offensive mind here. We're going to hold people to 60 next year. Hopefully we're scoring 75 and that's going to be the key to our success.”

Recently, you announced that you're adding a new member to your family. Unfortunately, there were some very hateful comments on social media, which you've addressed. Can you talk about what that period was like for you?

A: “I'm a very public figure. ... I put a lot out there. I wear everything on my sleeve, and I'm not afraid to be who I am, and that's kind of what makes me, me. I'm gonna post on social media, I'm gonna tell you guys what I'm doing, I'm gonna tell you where I am, I'm gonna tell you how I feel, I'm gonna be very transparent and honest. I've done that on social media my whole career, my whole life, and even after this, I'm not gonna change doing that.

“But in ... doing that and being as transparent and visible as I am, it does come with things like this occasionally. I have not experienced that level of ... hate is what we would call it, or disrespect, or just people being mean, as I experienced a couple weeks ago.

“But ... I don't even want to focus on the people who are saying mean things and the horrible people that are still on this planet with us. I would like to just genuinely thank from the bottom of my heart every single person who has reached out, who has called, texted, sent an email, the amount of flowers that have come to the office, the amount of mail that has been in our mailbox.

“Yeah, my family was very hurt. It was a very tough week for us. We were emotional, we were sad, we were all those things. But (I) look at it from a standpoint of wow, what a reminder of how much love and support we have here. That's what we're focused on, and that's what we're thankful for.”

Earlier in the offseason, you participated in an Ironman triathlon. Why did you do that? Why was that important to you? How long did you train and prepare for it?

A: “Ever since I was in college, I've wanted to do an Ironman. I'm somebody that likes a challenge. I like really hard things. I like to push my body physically as far as I can go.

“There's just not been a good time since I graduated. I hopped right into playing professionally, then I hopped right into my career. I've been moving, I've been mobile, and I just was like, ‘Man, I just turned 36. If I just keep pushing this off, I'm going to be 50 by the time I decide to do this thing.'

“So I just came to the realization that there is not going to be a good time, so I have to make the time to do it, and that's what I did.

“It's one of the hardest things that I've ever had to do. It wasn't just the race itself that was the hard part; it was the training. I trained through our entire season last year. I remember after the BYU game, we won here at McKale. I had to run home ... because I had to get my run in. I had to do nine miles. ... So I'm running home in the pitch black with my flashlight after we just had a huge win.

“I'm up at 3 o'clock in the morning trying to get my bike ride in. I'm in Lubbock, Texas, trying to find a pool to swim in before we have shootaround in the morning. But those are memories, and that's what I wanted. I wanted a struggle, I wanted a hard journey.

“Don't get me wrong. The race day itself was absolutely brutal, too. But (it’s) something I'm just gonna remember forever, hopefully do another one at some point in my life, and I just couldn't have been more thankful for the whole experience. It was amazing.”

How hard was the actual race?

A: “It was brutally difficult. But I had a smile on my face the whole time. I was trying to enjoy every moment. I worked so hard. I trained for 5½, six months. I wanted to go.

“I knew I was prepared. It's the same way with a game. I know walking down to the court from my office that our team is prepared. So when the preparation is there and you did the work, I wasn't nervous, I wasn't scared, I wasn't any of those things. I was just prepared to be in some pain.”