Arizona State women’s basketball coach Natasha Adair leads the Sun Devils into their inaugural Big 12 season with the message of unity and optimism. (File photo by Susan Wong/Cronkite News)
PHOENIX – As the 2024-25 Big 12 women’s basketball season tips off, a new era of college sports begins, marked by transfers, new rivalries and high expectations.
With the conference’s expansion bringing in four new programs – Arizona State, Arizona, Utah and BYU – the level of competition has never been higher. The revamped Big 12 looks to grow in more ways than from just adding schools, with improved ratings, engagement and international experiences all on the checklist for commissioner Brett Yormack.
Yormack has big aspirations for the expanding conference, which now features 18 teams spread across 10 different states.
“I want to cement our position domestically but I have aspirations to go international and global,” Yormack said at Big 12 Media Day earlier this month. “I think basketball can help us do that.”
The conference’s mentality has shifted as it now stands as one of the most powerful conferences in the college landscape, fielding 25 total sports.
“Our ratings were up 111% last year, we’re gonna see that trend continue this year,” Yormack said. “Four of our teams were in the top 16 this year in preseason AP polls.”
Yormack hasn’t let the conference’s development limit his imagination, maintaining his hardnose mentality when growing the Big 12’s brand.
“I’ve always been the underdog, I like having that grind mentality, we’re a mature startup, it gives us a chance to be a little more innovative, take calculated risks, and disrupt a little bit. Just have a lot of energy about what we do,” Yormack said.
As one of the four new teams in the conference, Arizona State approached the Big 12 Media Day with renewed optimism. Coach Natasha Adair, junior guard Jalyn Brown, graduate student guard Tyi Skinner and junior guard Kennedy Brasham talked about the vibes around this year’s team and the expectations for the season, which begins Monday when the Sun Devils host the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.
“This is a group that really loves one another, a group that works hard, we spent a lot of time together in the offseason,” Adair said. “Of course, we’re going to compete, we’re going to be relentless but we’re going to love one another and really care about each other.”
With the addition of new players through the transfer portal and players like Skinner returning from an injury that sidelined her for an entire season, the Sun Devils finally feel like they have a healthy and capable team. ASU is coming off an 11-20 record and a 3-15 record in the Pac 12 last season.
“The first thing for us was to get healthy so that’s what we did in the offseason. The first year we had six healthy players, then seven, and now we have 15,” Adair said. “We have size, athleticism, we have experience, we have veterans.”
A healthy team is one of the biggest keys to success in sports, but a healthy environment and bond between teammates can be just as important.
Skinner and Brown will be one of the strongest duos in the new and improved Big 12 this season. Brown, who transferred from Louisville after her freshman year, has looked forward to playing with Skinner but didn’t get the chance last season due to Skinner being sidelined by an injury.
“Part of why I came here is because Tyi wanted to team up,” Brown said. “We’re very determined players who look out for our teammates, so just for us to be out on the court against the same opponent with the same goal is gonna be scary.”
Similar to Yormack’s desire to grow the Big 12 and its brands, the Sun Devils are coming into the season with a desire to win.
“Most of us are going through new changes so everybody is excited,” Brown said. “But being a Sun Devil, I think that we are all hungry, everybody is ready to win.”
Arizona State and the University of Arizona will both play their first Big 12 games Dec. 21, with the Sun Devils visiting Utah and BYU hosting the Wildcats.