Adia Barnes

The Wildcats guided by Barnes, would make it to the WNIT Final, knocking off Northwestern to become the 2019 WNIT Champions.

Barnes was approached by her Arizona coach Joan Bonvicini to see if she was interested in coaching. At the time, Barnes was still actively playing for the Storm, and turned down the opportunity. However, she enjoyed working at camps, so when the new head coach of the University of Washington, Kevin McGuff, asked her in 2011 to consider coaching, he was able to persuade her, and she joined the Huskies as an assistant coach. Barnes was named head women's basketball coach at the University of Arizona on April 4, 2016.

In October 2010, Barnes was named Director of Player and Coach Development at Seattle Academy.

After a fairly rough start to her coaching career, Barnes entered her third season with the Wildcats, with high hopes. The team began the year 12-1, but ultimately struggled when it came to Pac-12 conference play. After finishing the regular season with 17 wins, their most in the regular season since 2010-11, Arizona entered the conference tournament as the No. 8 seed, knocking off USC to begin tournament play. The Wildcats would finish the year 18-13, before ultimately being selected for the Women's National Invitation Tournament.

In 2007, Barnes became a color commentator for the radio coverage of the Storm. She had some experience as a commentator for the World Championship games. The games were held in Brazil, but the broadcasts were done in a remote studio, making it a challenge. As of 2012, she did broadcasts of Storm games for both radio and TV, along with play-by-play announcer Dick Fain. Barnes was also the color commentator for the radio broadcasts of Seattle University Redhawks women's basketball games during the 2010-11 season.

Although successful as an undersized post in college, Barnes knew that she would not be able to continue as a post player in the pros, so she decide to transform herself into a guard. She originally was signed by the now-defunct Sacramento Monarchs, playing in 29 games and earning a starting position in 16 games. However, she was then traded to Minnesota and then Cleveland, and saw her playing time dwindle. She played overseas to work on her skills and concentrated on becoming a specialist. In 2002, she was traded to the Seattle Storm, who were picked to finish sound to last in their division. With Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson on the team, Storm coach Lin Dunn wasn't looking for a scorer, so Barnes concentrated on becoming a shut-down defender. Her work effort paid off, and she helped the team to make the playoffs in only their third year of existence.

At 5'11", Barnes wasn't as tall as most post position players at the highly regarded Division I schools. The University of Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini initially didn't think she would be able to play at that position, even after watching film of her play. However, after seeing her in person, she immediately offered Barnes a scholarship, who enrolled in the school for the 1995 season. Her physical play earned her a comparison to Charles Barkley from a Sports Illustrated writer. In her freshman year she earned the Pac-10 freshman of the year award, the first player from Arizona to win such an award.

Adia Oshun Barnes (born February 3, 1977) is the head women's basketball coach for the University of Arizona. She played at the collegiate level for the University of Arizona, then seven seasons of professional women's basketball with the Houston Comets, Seattle Storm, Minnesota Lynx, and Sacramento Monarchs in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She has played internationally with Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine. Barnes has also served as a TV color analyst broadcasting WNBA Seattle Storm games. Barnes is married to Salvo Coppa, a basketball coach she met in Italy. The wedding date was July 4, 2012.