Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois opened Friday’s introductory press conference for Becky Burke at McKale Center by listing the top five characteristics the university was looking for in the next coach to lead the women’s basketball program.
“A proven winner with a track record of success and a hunger to compete,” Reed-Francois mentioned as the first characteristic before proceeding to the next four:
“We were looking for an elite recruiter who can attract and develop top-tier talent. We were looking for a coach with passion and skill for player development, both on and off the court. We talk about high-low-high. We were looking for a high-low-high leader, someone of high character, low ego, high outcome and energy, someone with who is organized, detailed, disciplined with a clear and forward-thinking plan, and finally, someone who can thrive in the modern era of college athletics, someone who is student-athlete focused, adaptable and prepared to lead in this incredibly transformative time.”
Reed-Francois looked at Burke, who was sitting next to her as she spoke at the podium.
“Becky is dynamic,” Reed-Francois said. “She is disciplined. She is driven. She is a proven program builder who knows how to win and how to win the right way. Her energy is contagious. Her vision is bold. Her standards are high. She is a teacher, a strategist and a connector. She is a leader student-athletes can believe in with their full heart and soul.”
With such conviction on the hire of Burke from Reed-Francois it could have been difficult for Burke to match that energy and enthusiasm in her words when commenting on her hire.
Burke delivered.
At one point, Burke mentioned, “No one will ever outwork me. I am going to be the hardest worker in the room, every room I walk into. I take a tremendous amount of pride in that.”
“To the fans, just to get to know me a little bit and the couple of things you need to know about me, what you’re getting out of your new women’s basketball coach — I am in the top 1 percent of the competitive people on the planet,” she added. “That comes down to winning national championships or eating dinner. I don’t turn it off. I don’t know anything different.”
Coaching Arizona, which played Stanford in the 2021 NCAA championship game, is a source of pride for Burke now.
“People work their entire life to get a job at this level, but I didn’t want ‘a job,'” she said. “I wanted the job. Being the head coach at the University of Arizona is the job.
“It is my honor. It is my privilege. I’m humbled and so blessed for this opportunity.”
The former Louisville standout, who played for legendary coach Jeff Walz from 2008 to 2012, is only 35 years old embarking on her first head coaching position at a Power 4 program after coaching at four different schools over the last nine years.
She started the Embry-Riddle program from scratch at Prescott in 2016 — the same year her predecessor at Arizona, Adia Barnes, was hired at her alma mater.
After two years at Embry-Riddle, an NAIA institution, Burke coached from 2018-20 at NCAA Division II program Charleston (S.C.) and then 2020-22 at USC Upstate of the Big South before spending the last three seasons at Buffalo of the MAC.
She had a winning record at each stop, including 61-37 at Buffalo, culminating this season with a 30-7 record and WNIT championship.
Burke looked at Reed-Francois and spoke in glowing terms:
“Desireé, from the first five minutes we spoke, I knew you were the person I wanted to lead me in my career. I knew you were who I wanted to work for. I could tell you had a servant’s heart and a love for people, but your confidence, high standards and your pursuit for greatness is what makes me fired up to be in this building with you and on this campus with you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this opportunity and trusting me with this program.”
The 10th head coach in @ArizonaWBB program history, Becky Burke! pic.twitter.com/spnX3ox7zN
— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) April 11, 2025
Some other highlights of the press conference:
— Reed-Francois and Burke offered their appreciation of Barnes.
Reed-Francois: “Of course, I want to thank Adia Barnes for everything she has given to the University of Arizona as a student-athlete, as a head coach and as a community leader. Her legacy will always be a part of Arizona women’s basketball. We’re deeply grateful for her impact.”
Burke: “(I am thankful) to Coach Barnes and her staff for building such a special thing here and for contributing to such a rich tradition in women’s basketball. I’m always very, very aware of people who have come before me and thankful for the path and vision of what’s led us to today.”
— Former Arizona star Sam Thomas was a member of the search committee
Sam Thomas, one of the most popular players in Arizona women's hoops history, flew in from Kansas City to be part of Becky Burke's press conference.
"Thank you for being here and being such an instrumental part." — Desireé Reed-Francois to Thomas.
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) April 11, 2025
Reed-Francois also offered thanks to former Arizona coach Joan Bonvicini, softball coach Mike Candrea and former deputy director of athletics Rocky LaRose while mentioning those who helped with the search. She said she was also appreciative of Debbie Yow, Muffet McGraw and Debbie Antonelli.
— The topic of resources, including with NIL, was discussed.
Barnes has noted that Arizona lacked NIL resources and forced her to look at other programs to be part of a more competitive situation. She was hired last week by SMU, a private institution that has donors with deep pockets.
“I came to Arizona when it was the lowest paying job in the P5. No one could recruit talent to Tucson, the program was a mess,” Barnes wrote in an Arizona women’s basketball fan page on Facebook this week. “We changed things. We were relentless recruiters… We won a ton with limited resources. Now that there is the (transfer) portal, you cannot sustain success without resources. So, naturally, you will lose 5-7 players per year when they don’t get paid.”
Reed-Francois rebuked the claim that Arizona has insufficient resources to compete, especially in the Big 12.
“I think we are No. 1 in terms of assistant coaches salary pool,” she said. “We are in the top third in terms of overall operating budget in the Big 12. We are also top third in overall NIL/rev (revenue) sharing. So this is a well-resourced program.
“If we’re going to have competitive expectations and championship expectations, we know we’ve got to provide the resources and the support, but we also are never going to be that program that talks about excuses.”
Burke was asked twice about the topic and these were her responses:
“Confidence in our leadership and the vision and the conversations that we’ve had that are obviously between people who need to know the information. I would not be here if I wasn’t confident in Desireé and the position they are going to put our program in to be successful. It’s important to have things but I also think you don’t need everything. I’ve never been anywhere where I’ve had the most or the best. I’m not saying we don’t. I prefer it the hard way. We’re going to get it done. We’re going to find a way. I’m going to roll my sleeves up and figure it out. The support is there. The vision is there. The conversations have been had.”
“Like I said, I feel tremendously supported in the conversations that we’ve had. We’re going to be thrilled to announce our recruiting class. Every case is different with every player (and) every situation we’re walking into when we talk to kids. I think those things are discussions between the people that need to have them. They’ve been had, like I said. I feel very confident.”
"Playing for Jeff Walz at Louisville was so inspiring every single day. The man is brilliant and seeing how we game plan, seeing how we practice, how he went over a scouting report, how he put us in positions to be successful … He made us believe we were better than we were… https://t.co/NSLMhpWnzC pic.twitter.com/t6XXGGfbOU
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) April 11, 2025
— Burke’s career path is a challenge she pursued on her own rather than have Walz help her find an assistant coaching position at a Division I institution after she left Louisville in 2012.
After serving as an assistant at Saint Joseph’s for a season, she took on the challenge of starting Embry-Riddle’s program. After going 14-12 her first season, she went 21-6 in her second season — an indication of her knowledge and ability of building a program (earning her the nickname “Becky the Builder”).
“I wanted to grind and I wanted to do it from the ground up,” Burke said of her career path. “I didn’t want help and I wanted to prove that I can win no matter where I was. I took the unconventional route. I started a couple of hours up the road and started an NAIA school that didn’t even have a women’s basketball program.
“I wanted that challenge. From there, I got my first Division II opportunity. From there, I got my first Division I opportunity. From there, I got a better Division I opportunity. Now, to be somewhere where you want to be at the pinnacle of your career in this profession, I look back and am proud that Jeff didn’t hand me a job and proud that I earned it. That’s who I am. I want to earn everything I get. … I’m blue-collar. I’m roll-the-sleeves-up. That’s what you guys will learn about me.”
Burke will basically have to generate a brand new team with Barnes taking Sahnya Jah, Mailien Rolf and Paulina Paris with her to SMU along with two recruits who originally signed with Arizona — Jazzy Gipson and Roxy White.
Jada Williams has already signed with Iowa State and Skylar Jones ironically with, Louisville.
Only Montaya Dew remains on Arizona’s roster. Lauryn Swann and Breya Cunningham are unsigned in the transfer portal.
(@lani.cornfield)— Burke’s initial recruiting effort has included trying to keep Swann and Cunningham with the program but she understands if they land elsewhere.
“I think this is home for them,” Burke said of Swann and Cunningham. “They are welcome here. Just wanting them to know that, and wanting to obviously, first and foremost, 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 obviously supporting them 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. Whatever decision they make, we support that moving forward.”
It is widely speculated that Burke will bring her staff from Buffalo with her, much like Barnes took hers to SMU.
Burke mentioned that she is “grinding” getting Arizona’s roster together and believes her team will be competitive in the Big 12 in 2025-26.
One of Buffalo’s players, point guard Noelani Cornfield, is joining Burke at Arizona as a transfer.
She played her first two seasons at Southern Mississippi.
This season at Buffalo, Cornfield averaged 10.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.5 steals per game while shooting 45.3 percent from the floor.
“The best thing about not having a roster is there’s a lot of minutes available,” Burke said. “It’s how you attack it, how you just think about things. … Everywhere that I’ve been, it’s a complete rebuild from the studs, and it’s going to be no different here. I don’t expect the results to be any different in a couple years either.”
She ended the press conference by noting a recruit is visiting Arizona on Saturday morning “and it’s a good one.”
“It’s a good one,” she reiterated.
The same can be said of her introductory press conference, although “great” might be a better adjective to describe it.
FOLLOW @JAVIERJMORALES ON TWITTER!
ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
Recommended for you
