Becky Burke Leads The Way in First Season

The Arizona women's basketball team has a tremendous amount of rebuilding to do ahead of the 2025-2026 season.

Replenishing the coaching staff has already been done after the hiring of Becky Burke as the head coach, who has done a lot of winning during her time with Buffalo, going 174-92 during her tenure.

Burke replaces Adia Barnes, who left for SMU after a contract dispute kept her from resigning with the Wildcats.

Burke has big shoes to fill as Barnes leaves behind a successful legacy in McKale Center, winning at least 20 games in five seasons with four consecutive NCAA women's tournament appearances from 2021-2024.

Barnes' most successful year was when she made it to the finals of the tournament in 2021. Arizona fell to Stanford 54-53.

Now Burke plans to create a new legacy, hopefully one that is just as-if not better than what Barnes created.

Burke has plenty of work to do, as only one scholarship player, Montaya Dewe, is coming back to the program. 10 players from last year's team are either in the transfer portal or are already committed to different schools.

there should be plenty of minutes to go around for players who decide to opt out of the portal.

"I think this is home for them," Burke said. "They are welcome here, just wanting them to know that...(I) thank them for everything they've done during their time here. Support them in coming back if that's what they choose to do and supporting them in moving on if that's what they choose to do. Ultimately just making sure they know they have a home here, they're appreciated, they're respected."

Burke brings a fiery attitude to the team and has fully committed to bringing a competitive winning attitude to the program in a time where it may desperately need it, no matter what the circustance may be.

"I am in the top 1 percent of competitive people on this planet," Burke said. "That comes down to winning national championships or eating dinner. I don't turn it off, I don't know anything different. You're getting a high-level competitor. I'm the same way as a coach as I was a player."

With a change at the head coaching postion also comes a new staff of assistants. Burke wasted little time in bringing them in.

Joining Burke are general manager Michelle Marciniak and assistant coaches Ashley Odom, Julie Hargrove and Jenna Knudson.

Marciniak describes herself as "A liaison between the women's basketball team and the athletic department."

She continued, "I handle all things NIL, revshare. Definitely block and tackle for NIL opportunities for our players. Really, just oversee the overall operations of the program. I'm a close confidant with Coach Burke and work with her really on strategy."

Odom brings Big 12 experience as an assistant coach for Texas Tech last year. She feels her experience is "really important. Just to have familiarity with the league, different teams, coaches, style of play."

Knudson played under Burke at Embry-Riddle, where she ranked eighth in steals (3.1) and second in assists (3.7) in the conference.

In her time during the inaugural season, she said that "It was something really special to be a part of."

She continued to say, "It's something special to be a part of the first group. That's what drew me to first go to Embry-Riddle and be a part of the inaugural season, along with coach Becky Burke. She was as special then as she is now. It was all about laying the foundation and being the first to lay a culture."

Burke has kept the same attitude in the past as she said she currently has in the present. Knudson stated, "Our three things were energy every day...It goes back to how you do things and it was energetic. It was how you do one thing, is how you do everything. It mattered how we went to class, it mattered how you showed up in the dining hall. It mattered how you showed up on the court. It was really just bringing energy and how you represented women's basketball to a high standard."

Overall, what every coach has said about Burke comes down to two things: energy and excitement. To sum things up, Burke came up with a new saying in her introductory press conference, "Bear down, baby."

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