Adia Barnes was introduced as Arizona's head women's basketball coach on April 4, 2016 and agreed to a contract extension to lead the program through 2026 in May of 2021. The leading scorer in Arizona women’s basketball history and a WNBA Champion, Barnes came to Tucson after serving as an assistant coach at the University of Washington for five seasons.Barnes led the Wildcats to the National Championship game in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, the first time Arizona advanced past the Sweet 16 in school history.
Through her first five seasons as head coach, Barnes has won 89 games, the most of any Arizona coach in program history in their first five seasons. She is also the only coach in school history to win at least 20 games three times in her first five seasons.
In her fifth season, Barnes was a finalist for the WBCA Coach of the Year and was a semifinalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year. Heading into the NCAA Tournament, she became the 11th coach to play and coach in the NCAA Tournament at their alma mater. Once the Wildcats reached the National Championship game, she became the fourth coach to lead her alma mater to the title game.
Barnes became the youngest coach since 2014 to make the Final Four and was also the first coach since 2016 to reach the Final Four in their first five years as a head coach. She also helped Arizona become the first team ever to reach the National Championship game after missing the previous 10+ NCAA Tournaments.
During the NCAA Tournament, Arizona defeated UConn in the Final Four, which was the first time in school history Arizona knocked off both the No. 1 team in the nation as well as a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats finished in second place in the loaded Pac-12, their highest finish since the 2003-04 season when Arizona won the Pac-10. During the year, Arizona swept the regular season series vs. Oregon for the first time in 10 years and also swept Oregon and Oregon State in the same weekend for the first time in 10 years.
Prior to becoming the head coach at Arizona, Barnes joined the staff at Washington in 2011 and helped boost the Huskies profile in the Pac-12 and nationally, culminating in a trip to the Final Four this year. After three seasons on staff, Barnes was promoted to recruiting coordinator, where she handled all aspects of recruiting including budget, compliance and planning, in addition to her role in player development.
A three-time all-conference selection and '98 graduate of Arizona, Barnes was voted USBWA first-team All-American and Pac-10 player of the year in 1997-98. Her 2,237 career points currently rank ninth on the Pac-12’s all-time scoring list. Following her collegiate career, Barnes played professionally for 12 seasons in the WNBA and overseas. She won a WNBA Championship with the Seattle Storm in 2004, was named to the Storm’s All-Decade Team, and also played for Cleveland, Minnesota and Sacramento. Her overseas career included stops in the Ukraine, Israel, Turkey, Russia and Italy.
A native of San Diego, Calif., Barnes is married to Salvo Coppa, who coached for 14 seasons prior to arriving at Arizona, including 10 professionally in Italy and with three separate national teams. She is also the mother of one son, Matteo and one daughter, Capri.
