Adia Barnes says recruiting comes down to relationships.
Not just the relationships she builds with players and their parents, mind you, but also the friendships she built throughout her professional playing career.
The international flavor of 蜜柚直播鈥檚 2019 recruiting class, unveiled late last month, is a good indicator of Barnes鈥 familiarity with Europe. Barnes played for teams in Italy, Turkey, Israel, Russia and Ukraine. She met her husband, Salvo Coppa, while playing overseas. Coppa, now a UA assistant involved in recruiting, speaks five languages.
Faced recently with a language barrier, Coppa used Google translate.
As a result, the Wildcats were able to add Turkey鈥檚 Sevval Gul. Gul is one of four players who have signed a national letter of intent with the Wildcats for 2019, along with Icelandic forward Birna Benonysdottir, Latvian guard Mara Mote and Australian guard Tara Manumaleuga. Turkish guard Derin Erdogan verbally committed on Wednesday for the 2020 class.
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The overseas commits are expected to join the top-rated freshman class in program history, which Barnes reeled in for 2018-19. This year鈥檚 Wildcats are 5-1 thanks in part to first-year players. They鈥檒l take on San Diego State on the road Sunday afternoon.
鈥淚 am excited about the direction we are going,鈥 Barnes said. 鈥淭he people we are bringing in fit who we are and they are all made for it.鈥
Barnes鈥 2019 class is two years in the making. She initially wanted to fill it with post players. That plan changed numerous times, as did the identities of the players Barnes was recruiting.
Last season, two Wildcats 鈥 Taryn Griffey and Eugenie Simonet-Keller 鈥 medically retired. Already this season, two post players 鈥 Kiana Barkhoff and Shalyse Smith 鈥 have transferred.
Barnes calls it 鈥渁 prime example of how this generation of basketball players is different.鈥
鈥淎t Oregon, Kelly Graves has built a top-level program,鈥 Barnes said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very successful, going deep in the tournament two consecutive years. Four kids transferred this year. It happens everywhere. Well, everywhere but Stanford. You go to Stanford for the degree.鈥
The first steps in recruiting are identifying your team鈥檚 needs and evaluating available prospects. Barnes leaves the heavy lifting 鈥攃ompiling of the huge list 鈥 to assistant coach and recruiting coordinator April Phillips.
蜜柚直播鈥檚 staff recruits multiple classes at a time. Multiple continents, too. That鈥檚 where those relationships help.
鈥淩elationships are key in Europe, because there were 30 of us coaches at the (FIBA) Championships and if you don鈥檛 have a relationship before, you are out,鈥 Barnes said.
Mote, a 5-foot-11-inch guard from Latvia, was the first to give Barnes a verbal commitment. Mote鈥檚 mentor was a friend of Barnes.
鈥淢ara was easy; she speaks perfect English,鈥 Barnes said. 鈥淲e talked and I saw six games. She is a smart player, athletic and has good endurance. I liked what she was about; a good fit. It was a no-brainer. She鈥檚 a good player.鈥
Benonysdottir, a 6-foot-2-inch forward from Iceland, had two connections to 蜜柚直播. One was Coppa鈥檚 father, a longtime European coach. The other was Jenny Boucek, a Dallas Mavericks assistant and a friend of Barnes.
鈥淭his was random connections,鈥 Barnes said. 鈥淚 saw her twice. She is a good player, a stretch-four (position) and she can shoot the 3. She is a great kid and is from a good family. And she speaks English.鈥
Barnes found Manumaleuga through another friend. Manumaleuga is the cousin of former 蜜柚直播 and NFL standout Brandon Manumaleuna.
鈥淲e needed a shooter, a specialist,鈥 Barnes said. 鈥淪he has good size and athleticism and is a good fit.鈥
When it came to landing Gul, 蜜柚直播 got an assist from Kelsey Plum, the former Washington standout who Barnes recruited and coached with the Huskies. Gul and Plum both play for Ferenhbace, a basketball club in Turkey.
鈥(Gul) saw Kelsey every day and would ask her what it鈥檚 like playing in college,鈥 Barnes said. 鈥淐onnections are key for us.鈥
So is communication. Coppa joked that he won鈥檛 be adding Turkish to his repertoire.
鈥淚 think (Gul) speaks better English than my three years studying Turkish,鈥 Coppa joked.
Barnes made all the scholarship offers either in person or on FaceTime. She knows that, for many of the players she recruits, the offer can be life changing. It was for Barnes when she committed to the UA and former coach Joan Bonvicini more than 20 years ago.
鈥淚t means a lot when I offer a girl a scholarship,鈥 Barnes said. 鈥淚t says a lot about her 鈥 high character, the total-package kid. It鈥檚 special. They fit in our culture and they are all-in. I鈥檓 not taking anyone who isn鈥檛. I鈥檝e worked hard to create an incredible culture these past few years. For me, it鈥檚 more about who you are as a person than as a player. It鈥檚 even more special to get an offer at 蜜柚直播 because we are recruiting against the best teams. We are going head-to-head with Oregon on players. That says a lot about the work our staff puts in.鈥
Barnes understands that a class full of international players might be a cause for concern. She isn鈥檛 worried.
鈥淭here are risks with overseas players, and you have to factor that in. However, we lost out on some good players in the United States and I would rather get a good player from overseas,鈥 she said. 鈥淚f I can鈥檛 get a top-10 player here, why pass on kids from overseas? If I really like a player, I鈥檓 not going to pass on them. They could be from Mars.
鈥淭hese are great players who are used to practicing and are great students, which is in line with what we have. A good example is Lucia (Alonso), who is one of our best students on the team.
鈥淣ow it鈥檚 about getting players and getting better. Winning is a process, if you do it right. Right now I have a plan. It is to win.鈥
