Arizona The Sun Devils announced it Saturday morning.
Adair's employment three seasons ago seemed strange to make long-time head coach Charli Turner Thorne a success, considering Adair spent his whole life on the East Coast. Wake Forest.
Adair was able to return the 24-win season in Delaware with the Sun Devils to the opportunity, but did not achieve the same success in Tempe, Arizona. She scored 29-62 overall, with a Pac-12 in two years, one with the Big 12, and Sun Devils won just seven conference games under her watch. Arizona seemed to have hit Rockbottom this year when they lost to teams like Coppin and Davis, California.
Sun Devils changed athletic supervision since the last time the job was opened. The athletics division appears to be in a more stable place than when Ray Tanner was leading it. Graham Rossini, who officially took over the ads about a year ago, will pick top-level candidates, from mid-term stars to former Arizona players or others with connections to the program.
Under former head coach Turner Thorne, Arizona has enjoyed a number of consistent successes over the years. Sun Devils went to 14 NCAA tournaments in 25 seasons, winning two Pac-12 regular season titles and five in Sweet 16, with 18 seasons.
To return to that status, Rossini could turn to one of Turner Thorne's former players, but the talented mid-major rank coach will also line up his phone. Sources say it is a coveted job in the coaching circle.
Who might get it:
Nikki Blue
Blue checks all boxes here. She spent 15 seasons as an assistant coach at the university, finishing her time at the NCAA as an assistant under Turner Thorne in Arizona. Over the past four years, she has WNBA Phoenix Mercury and Los Angeles Sparks. She was temporarily head coach and interim coach for Mercury during the turbulent 2023 season, making it 7-21. If Blue wants to return to college games as head coach, she can do much worse than returning to Arizona.
Brian January
Simply put, January is one of the best players in Arizona women's basketball uniforms. January, who played for Turner Thorn with two teams who went to Elite Eight, is the two-time Pac-12 defensive player of the year, and her free throw percentage (83.0) is the fifth best in Pac-12 history. After a decorated career in the WNBA, she won the championship, created an All-Star team and was named all-defence seven times – January got caught up in coaching and began her career in Arizona. She has since served as assistant coach for the WNBA and NBA G League. It's a good story when her jersey returns to Tempe, where she retired.
Molly Miller
Miller may be the most popular mid-major coach on the market in this coaching cycle for women's college basketball. She has already been contacted by the SEC program and will need to receive calls from Arizona as well. This is less than 20 minutes from where I'm currently coaching at Grand Canyon. Under Miller's command, Lopez went 28-2 this season, winning the regular season WAC title, beating Arizona, Arizona and northern Arizona. The 38-year-old Miller is 113-37 in five seasons at the Grand Canyon, and has been watching her first NCAA tournament appearance this season. She also had many successes in the Division II ranks, leading Drury College to a 118-17 record and five NCAA tournament berths in six seasons. Miller doesn't even need to hit the housing market if she gets this job.
Other coaches that may be in the Arizona mix include UNLV's Lindy La Rock, Northern Arizona's Laurie Payne, and Tulsa's Angie Nelp.
