Dallas – Adia Barnes was appointed the new SMU women’s basketball coach on Saturday after nine seasons in Arizona, where she led the Wildcats to the National Championship match four years ago.
Barnes takes over a SMU program which has just paid a 10-20 file during its first season at the Atlantic coast conference. The Mustangs were 2-16 in championship matches.
Hiring occurred a week after SMU dismissed Toylle Wilson, who had 55-64 in total in four seasons. The only appearance of the SMU NCAA tournament took place in 2007-08.
Arizona had 169-114 under Barnes and carried out four consecutive NCAA female tournaments from 2021-24, including a defeat of 54-53 against Stanford in the match for the national title 2021. The Wildcats finished 19-14 in their first Big 12 season, going 10-8 at a conference.
After scoring 2,237 points in Arizona from 1994 to 1998, Barnes played professionally for 12 seasons in the WNBA and abroad. She was part of the Seattle WNBA championship team in 2004. She was also an assistant coach in Washington.
“After seeing the commitment and alignment on the top of the hill, I believe that we can compete on the national scene and for the ACC championships,” said Barnes. “My family and I can’t wait to go to Dallas and I can’t wait to go to work.”
The Arizona in a press release thanked Barnes for its nine seasons and “its deep impact” on the Wildcats program.
