PHOENIX – When new Arizona women’s basketball coach Becky Burke called this season a “complete rebuild,” it was perplexing to some, especially after coming off a 19-14 finish.
However, with only one returning player in junior forward Montaya Dew, Burke is left to pick up the pieces as the program moves in a different direction.
This is reflected in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll, in which the Wildcats are picked to finish 14th out of 16 teams. The Wildcats finished eighth last season.
Faith in the Wildcats, who open the season Nov. 6 against UC Riverside, took a nose-dive after an unexpected loss on Oct. 23 in an exhibition game against Division II West Texas A&M.
Coming off a successful 30-7 season at Buffalo, where she coached for three seasons before taking the Wildcats’ top job in April, Burke knows what it takes to build a winning team. But even she acknowledges that it will be a process to return the Wildcats to their winning ways.
“I think we’ve done a tremendous job of hiring a staff, building a roster and in the time frame that we had, we’re a no excuses group, but let’s be real about what it was,” Burke said at Big 12 media day recently. “I mean, it was bare bones. So definitely a complete rebuild.”
Despite inheriting an empty cupboard, Burke has required numerous high-level transfers to fill the void left by the exodus of former Wildcats.
Graduate transfers Noelani Cornfield and Mickayla Perdue, as well as junior transfer Sumayah Sugapong – all guards – are among the athletes who joined the team in the offseason.
However, none of those players is taller than 5-feet-7, leaving the Wildcats undersized.
But Burke doesn’t believe that means they will be vastly overmatched.
“We’re small,” Burke said. “We’re going to be undersized. We’re going to have some things that don’t look to our favor on paper, but I think what they don’t know about our team is our competitiveness, our attention to detail, our blue collar mentality, how gritty these guys are, the chip that they all have on their shoulder.
“We have a really good mix of mid-major studs, true freshmen, international players, Power Five transfers that every single one of them has such a unique story and such a big chip on their shoulder to come to Arizona and prove people right or wrong.”
Proving the doubters wrong starts with a culture change, which might already be setting in for the Wildcats.
Cornfield, who left Buffalo with Burke, knows that her coach is a culture-setter.
“I would define the culture that she’s trying to build as discipline,” Cornfield said. “Obviously, as all of (us have) our first year here at Arizona, (Burke is) still building from the ground up, but what she wants it to be is disciplined, detail-oriented living.
“Living your day-to-day, she always says how you do one thing is how you do everything. And so just living up to standards each and every day and just holding yourself to the highest you can be and doing everything that she expects of you.”
While Cornfield brings the defensive intensity Burke craves – she ranked among the top 20 nationally in steals per game last season – Perdue brings the offensive identity Arizona desperately needs.
The 2024-25 Horizon League Player of the Year for Cleveland State, Perdue averaged 20 points per game last season, and is expected to be the main scoring threat in the backcourt for the Wildcats.
“I think this was the right fit because I’m a scoring guard,” Perdue said. “I think that’s one of the main reasons she recruited me. Just how gritty I am, how much I love the game.”
With only one remaining player from last year’s roster, leadership on paper might be lacking. However, the veteran transfers are ready to assume that role.
Sugapong, who was an all-Big West first team selection at UC San Diego last season and comes with international experience, is ready to claim that role.
“I think just as a person outside of basketball, I’m normally kind of quiet, kind of reserved,” said Sugapong, who played in the FIBA Asia Cup in the Philippines in 2022 and 2025. “But basketball really just brings out a different side of me. I think my main leadership skills sort of just lead by example.
“I try to go out there and do whatever (Burke) needs on the floor. I think the past two years and considering my international experience, I have grown into my voice.”
One thing is clear: The team Burke has built from the ground up is going to fight and claw for wins, even if the Wildcats have to do it the hard way.
“I bleed the game,” Perdue said. “I love this game and I’m going to do everything and anything that she asks of me. Whether that’s going out there and scoring, going out and facilitating or playing defense.”
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