Adia Barnes

Adia Oshun Barnes (born February 3, 1977) is the head women's basketball coach with the University of Arizona.[1] She played at the collegiate level for the University of Arizona, then seven seasons of professional women's basketball with the Houston Comets, Seattle Storm, Minnesota Lynx, and Sacramento Monarchs in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She has played internationally with Dynamo Kiev in the Ukraine. She serves as a TV color analyst broadcasting WNBA Seattle Storm games. Barnes is married to Salvo Coppa, a basketball coach she met in Italy. The wedding date was July 4, 2012.[2]

Early years

Barnes grew up in San Diego, California and attended Mission Bay Senior High School in San Diego.[3] Over the course of her high school career, she amassed 1112 blocks, the most ever recorded by a female high school basketball player, 253 blocks ahead of second place Chris Enger.[4]

College

At 5'11", Barnes isn't as tall as most post position players vying for a position at the highly regarded Division I schools. The University of Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini didn't think she would be able to play at that position, even after watching film of her play. However, after seeing her in person, she immediately offered Barnes a scholarship, who enrolled in the school for the 1995 season. Her physical play earned her a comparison to Charles Barkley from a Sports Illustrated writer. In her freshman year she earned the Pac-10 freshman of the year award, the first player from Arizona to win such an award.[5]

In her sophomore year, the team earned a WNIT bid and won the championship. Barnes was named the tournament Most Valuable Player.[6] As a junior, Barnes helped the team to their first ever NCAA appearance. They won their first game against Western Kentucky, and then lost by six points to the second seed in their bracket, Georgia.[6] She went on to set 22 individual records for the Arizona Wildcats, including career points and rebounds, many of which are still records.[7] She would go on to become the first women's player in Arizona to be drafted into the professional leagues.[8]

WNBA career

Although successful as an undersized post in college, Barnes knew that she would not be able to continue as a post player in the pros, so she decide to transform herself into a guard. She originally was signed by the now-defunct Sacramento Monarchs, playing in 29 games and earning a starting position in 16 games. However, she was then traded to Minnesota and then Cleveland, and saw her playing time dwindle. She played overseas to work on her skills and concentrated on becoming a specialist. In 2002, she was traded to the Seattle Storm, who were picked to finish sound to last in their division. With Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson on the team, Storm coach Lin Dunn wasn't looking for a scorer, so Barnes concentrated on becoming a shut-down defender. Her work effort paid off, and she helped the team to make the playoffs in only their third year of existence.[9]

International

She also played internationally with Dynamo Kiev in the Ukraine.[10] She played for several Euroleague teams, Priolo(Italy), Elitzur Rampla(Israel), Napoli BK(Italy), UMMC(Russia), Mersin(Turkey), and Pozzuoli(Italy).[11]

Broadcasting

In 2007, Barnes became a color commentator for the radio coverage of the Storm.[12] She had some experience as a commentator for the World Championship games. The games were held in Brazil, but the broadcasts were done in a remote studio, making it a challenge. As of 2012, she is doing broadcasts of Storm games for both radio and TV, along with play-by-play announcer Dick Fain.[13] Barnes was the color commentator for the radio broadcasts of Seattle University Redhawks women's basketball games during the 2010-11 season.[14]

Coaching

In October 2010, Barnes was named Director of Player and Coach Development at Seattle Academy.[15]

Barnes was approached by her Arizona coach Joan Bonvicini to see if she was interested in coaching. At the time, Barnes was still actively playing for the Storm, and turned down the opportunity.[16] However, she enjoyed working at camps, so when the new head coach of the University of Washington, Kevin McGuff, asked her in 2011 to consider coaching, he was able to persuade her, and she joined the Huskies as an assistant coach.[17] Barnes was named head women's basketball coach at the University of Arizona on April 4, 2016.[18]

University of Arizona stats

Source[19]

Year GP GS Min. Avg. FG FGA Pct. 3FG 3FGA Pct. FT FTA Pct. OR DR Tot. Avg. PF-DQ A TO B ST Pts. Avg.
1994-95 30 24 814 27.1 191 411 0.465 1 3 0.333 81 131 0.618 103 130 233 7.8 99-5 18 89 1 40 464 15.5
1995-96 30 26 849 28.3 209 396 0.528 0 3 0 104 154 0.675 73 148 221 7.4 113-8 38 96 8 54 522 17.4
1996-97 31 31 883 28.5 232 452 0.513 1 5 0.2 133 182 0.731 112 143 255 8.2 98-4 51 101 13 86 598 19.3
1997-98 30 29 907 30.2 249 472 0.528 1 4 0.25 154 204 0.755 95 117 212 7.1 103-4 40 88 5 76 653 21.8
Career 121 110 3453 28.5 881 1731 0.509 3 15 0.2 472 671 0.703 383 538 921 7.6 413-21 147 374 27 256 2237 18.5

WNBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career high League leader

Awards and achievements

References

  1. "Barnes makes return to Arizona as new coach". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  2. Evans, Jayda. "A Happy Fourth of July: Former Storm guard Adia Barnes weds". The Seattle Times Company.
  3. "CNN/SI - Adia Barnes". CNN. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  4. "High School Sports Record Book". National Federation of State High School Associations. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  5. Gelin, Dana. "Adia Barnes, Arizona". CNN/SI. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 "The History of Arizona Women's Basketball" (PDF). University of Arizona. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Individual & Team Records". University of Arizona. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  8. "Adia Barnes". University of Arizona Athletics department.
  9. Wheelock, Helen. "Adia Barnes – Seattle Storm". Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  10. "HOUSTONCOMETS.COM Home News Roster Statistics Schedule/Scores Tickets Adia Barnes". WNBA. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  11. "Adia Barnes Basketball Profile". Euroleague. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  12. Pelton, Kevin (February 27, 2007). "Storm Q&A: Adia Barnes". Seattle Storm. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  13. "Storm announces TV schedule". Seattle PI Sports Blog. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  14. "Seattle U Women's Basketball to Face Huskies Wednesday". Seattle University. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  15. Kelley, Mason (October 27, 2010). "High School Sports Blog | Q&A with Seattle Academy's Adia Barnes | Seattle Times Newspaper". Seattle Times. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  16. Pelton, Kevin. "Storm Q&A: Adia Barnes". StormTracker. Seattle Storm. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  17. Evans, Jayda (May 10, 2011). "In 2011, the new head coach of the University of Washington, Kevin McGuff, persuaded Barnes to try coaching, and she joined the Huskies as an assistant coach.". Seattle Times. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  18. Rosenblatt, Zack (April 4, 2016). "Former UA star Adia Barnes named Wildcats' new coach.". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  19. "Year-by-Year Stat Leaders" (PDF). University of Arizona. p. 77. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  20. 1 2 "Joan Bonvicini Biography". University of Arizona. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  21. "Ex-Cat awaits WNBA draft". Tucson Citizen. April 28, 1998. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  22. "USBWA WOMEN'S HONORS". U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  23. "The University of Arizona Sports Hall of Fame" (PDF). University of Arizona. Retrieved 11 April 2012.

External links

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