TUCSON – If it’s true that a team’s identity and culture come from its coach, fans of Arizona women’s basketball are going to like Becky Burke, who comes to Tucson with a fierce passion for the game and a love for the program’s history.
“I am in the top 1% of competitive people on the planet,” said Burke, who was introduced Friday, April 11, as the new Wildcats coach. “No one will ever outwork me … and no one’s ever going to outwork us.”
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Burke even dropped a new twist to Arizona’s motto as the Wildcats head into their second season in the Big 12 Conference.
“BDB,” Burke said, adding, “Bear down, baby!”
Burke will have to bear down on recruiting, with 10 players from the 2024-25 season either in the transfer portal or committed to new teams heading into next season. Redshirt junior forward Montaya Dew is the lone scholarship player on the current roster.
Committed transfers include last year’s leading scorer, guard Jada Williams, who transferred to Big 12 opponent Iowa State. Three former Wildcats, Sahnya Jah, Paulina Paris, and Mailien Rolf, followed former coach Adia Barnes to Southern Methodist University.
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Freshmen Katarina Kneževic and Lauryn Swann and sophomore Jorynn Ross are still in the portal and uncommitted. Burke noted that a limited roster means plenty of playing time will be available for incoming transfers, or for the Wildcats in the portal should they choose to return.
“Ultimately, I’m making sure they know that they have a home here, they are appreciated and respected, and that whatever decision they make, we support that moving forward,” Burke said.
She also acknowledged that Arizona’s women’s basketball program has a rich history and expects to compete for a national championship in the next three to five years. “I didn’t just want a job. I wanted the job. Being a head coach at the University of Arizona is the job,” Burke said.
The Wildcats’ job is Burke’s fifth head coaching position in a career that has spanned the country. She started the basketball program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott in 2015 and coached there for two years. She then spent two years at the Division III level at the University of Charleston before moving to the Division I level at the University of South Carolina Upstate from 2020 to 2022.
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Burke’s most recent stop was at the University of Buffalo — where Arizona State men’s basketball coach Bobby Hurley got his start as a head coach. Last season, Burke led Buffalo to a Women’s National Invitation Tournament championship and a program-record 30 wins, improving her nine-season career record to 174-92.
Her hiring came just four days after Barnes left Arizona for SMU. Desireé Reed-Francois, Arizona’s vice president and director of athletics, gave Barnes credit for her time in Tucson.
“I want to thank Adia Barnes for everything she has given to the University of Arizona, as a student-athlete, head coach, and community leader,” Reed-Francois said. “Her legacy will always be a part of Arizona women’s basketball.”
Under Barnes, the Wildcats made four consecutive appearances in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament from 2021 to 2024, including a 2021 run to the national championship game before the Wildcats fell to Stanford. Barnes was a decorated player at Arizona, amassing 2,237 points from 1994 to 1998, and playing professionally in the WNBA for seven seasons.
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Barnes faced controversy last week after a comment she made after her introductory press conference. She was asked about her reasoning for taking the position at SMU, and amid some positive comments about the leadership at SMU, she included a shot at other programs.
“It’s just a fact, if you look across the country if you look at all the recent hires, they’ve all hired mid-major, underqualified people because they don’t really care,” Barnes said on April 9.
She apologized on social media on April 12.
Burke was the final domino to fall in a whirlwind of moves involving women’s hoops in Arizona.
Arizona State hired Grand Canyon coach Molly Miller in March to take over after Natasha Adair, who had been dismissed after three seasons. Grand Canyon filled its vacancy by hiring South Carolina assistant Winston Gandy to replace Miller a few days later.
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Meanwhile, Northern Arizona coach Loree Payne departed to take the job at Santa Clara and the Lumberjacks tapped Laura Dinkins, Miller’s associate head coach at GCU, to replace her.
In Tucson, Burke is charged with reinvigorating an Arizona program that has made the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament 11 times in program history, including five consecutive 20-win seasons from 2018-19 to 2022-23.
“I don’t see any reason why we can’t reclaim our spot among the nation’s elite. That’s where we belong. That’s why I’m here. And that’s what I promise you every day that I will work to achieve,” Burke said.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: UA introduces new women’s basketball coach Becky Burke
