SAN ANTONIO – Arizona Wildcats women’s basketball coach Adia Barnes said Saturday she has no reason to apologize after using a middle finger and an explosion in a post-game crowd with her team in the moments of joy after the 69-59 victory over UConn in the Final Four.
The moment, captured by ESPN cameras, went viral immediately after Friday night’s win, earning the Wildcats a place in the national championship game for the first time in school history. At the post-game press conference, Barnes acknowledged, “I said a word cuss. The word cuss is practically “Forget everyone … Forget everyone if they don’t believe in us, because we believe in ourselves.”
During a Zoom call on Saturday to preview the national championship game against Stanford on Sunday, Barnes said he thought he was sharing a private moment with his team after angering him.
“I honestly had a moment with my team and I thought it was a more intimate gathering,” she said. “I told my team something I really felt and I know they felt and it appeared differently on TV, but I don’t apologize because I don’t feel I have to apologize. That’s what I felt with my team right now. I wouldn’t take it back. We went to war together. We believe in each other. So I’m in those moments and they are, so I don’t apologize for doing that. It’s just me and I have to be just me. “
Barnes and her players said they felt disrespected several times throughout the tournament, culminating in the NCAA leaving them out of a promotional video previewing the women’s Final Four earlier this week.
“After touring the tour, I won more, I won more love and then I thought we finally got a little respect and obviously the video, other things that happened, was kind of like a dagger, “said Arizona striker Sam Thomas. “So I think now we’re just, we’re in it for ourselves. If people want to support us, we like it. If people want to hate us, we mean we’re in the national championship, so what else can you say?”