What Kind of Role Model Is This?

The Arizona Wildcats had a Cinderella run in this year’s NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. They may not have clenched the final victory (losing to the Stanford Cardinals in a thrilling 54-53 battle) but...what a ride.

They entered the Final Four match-up as a huge underdog. Their status was evident in the NCAA Final Four promo that showcased competitors South Carolina, Stanford, and UConn. But Arizona – the fourth team in the Final Four – didn’t even make the cut.

UConn – Arizona’s opponent in the Final Four – held the No. 1 rank while Arizona was No. 3.

UConn is a powerhouse in women’s basketball. The Powerhouse. The UConn Huskies are the most successful women's basketball program in the nation, having won a record 11 NCAA National Championships. They have made it to the Final Four every year since 2008.

Arizona’s best performance before this year was making it to the Sweet Sixteen – in 1998.

Everyone thought UConn had an easy W with the Arizona match-up. 

Then Arizona beat them by ten points. 

Arizona celebrates after their victory over UConn (Photo: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

Arizona’s victory over UConn is the Cinderella story March Madness lives for.

So who is the Fairy Godmother Coach behind this underdog team?

Adia Barnes coaching the Wildcats at The Final Four

Her name is Adia Barnes, and there was a lot of talk about her after the UConn victory.

But the articles weren’t talking about her history as a professional basketball player – or that she had been a player on the Arizona team that made it to the Sweet Sixteen in 1998 (when they lost to – wait for it – UConn!). 

The top stories weren’t talking about how she has managed to coach her team through an incredible season just months after having a baby. The headlines didn’t mention that four days after giving birth, Barnes was back at work on Zoom calls. 

No, the big story about Adia Barnes was the ‘impassioned postgame speech’ she gave her players in an off-court huddle where she was seen using ‘the middle finger’ and ‘dropping a F-bomb.’

She wasn’t swearing during a televised interview. She was filmed during a huddle with her team in a moment of celebration after they won the game. The team that had been omitted from the Final Four promo and that oddsmakers pegged as 13.5 point underdogs had earned their spot in the Finals. 

She wasn’t swearing at her players. Her passion was directed at all the people who didn’t believe in her team. 

Arizona Player Aari McDonald and Coach Adia Barnes (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

And in a post-game interview, Barnes said she wasn’t going to apologize for it.

“I honestly had a moment with my team and I thought it was like a more intimate huddle. And I said to my team something that I truly felt and I know they felt and it just, like, appeared different on TV.”

She didn’t back down later as the criticism poured in, and sent this tweet to Gary Parrish of CBS Sports:

While some celebrated Barnes for her passion, others called her ‘unprofessional’, ‘classless’ and a ‘bad role model.’ 

So what kind of role model is Adia Barnes?

Let’s look at the evidence. 

She has shown her team what hard work, determination, and a positive mindset can get you. She’s shown them the value of teamwork, resilience, and grit. She’s shown them that it’s OK to be who you are and show emotion.

And she’s also shown them what it’s like to be a working mother. What it’s really like. Reading that she was pumping breast milk for her baby during halftime of the final game shows those young women what it means to be a working mother. It is not easy. Working mothers have different challenges. Challenges that most people never talk about – let alone celebrate.

She’s shown her team (and so many others) not to let other people limit them. She demonstrates that you can have a job and be a mother and still compete at the highest levels.

That’s the kind of role model she is.

Adia said what a lot of underdogs – women and men – want to say when people don’t believe in them. 

It was honest. It was real.

And it’s not something she needs to apologize for.