If there's one thing learned through the last four decades of UA women's basketball, it's that firing a head coach is followed by a long and painful rebuilding process.
June Olkowski was fired as Arizona's coach after a 6-25 season in 1991. Arizona hired Long Beach State Final Four coach Joan Bonvicini, who went on a three-year overhaul, sticking with it through 9-19, 13-14 and 15-12 seasons before the first of seven NCAA Tournament appearances.
Niya Butts was fired after going 7-47 in her last three Pac-12 seasons, culminating in 2016. Arizona hired its career scoring leader, Adia Barnes, off the Washington Huskies staff. Barnes learned what it was like to be humbled as Arizona went 6-24 in her second season until building a Final Four team in 2021.
Now comes Becky Burke, who knows a bit about rebuilds.
She went from 8-15 at South Carolina Upstate to 22-8 a year later. Moving to Buffalo, Burke went from 12-16 to 19-14 and ultimately 30-7. That's when Arizona asked her to get the Wildcats back to the Top 25, where they had last been in 2023.
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Arizona head coach Becky Burke has some questions about a foul against the Wildcats during the third quarter against Embry-Riddle during their exhibition game in Tucson on Oct. 22, 2026.
Alas, Burke went 3-15 in the Big 12 in her Arizona debut last year, but it wasn't as hopeless as it might appear. UA was only outscored by an average of 71.2 to 68.9 in Burke's first season.
Becky the Builder has changed the composition of her roster with big-name recruits. Newcomer Arynn Finley was ranked the No. 48 prospect in the country. First-year player Callie Hinder was the No. 2 prospect in Arizona. Maryland transfer Breanna Williams was ranked No. 45 in the USA coming out of high school. Freshman point guard Jasleen Green was ranked No. 60 in the USA and was the Florida Gatorade Player of the Year. And newcomer Makayla Presser-Palmer was ranked No. 63 in the country at her Pennsylvania high school.
Arizona has been picked to finish No. 13 in the Big 12 in the league's preseason poll, but the league does not have a Top-10 program and climbing the ranks seems doable, especially with a league schedule that has the Wildcats only playing teams selected Nos. 1-3, three times total, and two of those three games are at McKale Center.
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