Women鈥檚 Basketball Coach Kim Barnes Arico is a U-M Lifer

She鈥檚 taken the Wolverines to four NCAA Tournament appearances and coached 13 players to 24 All-Big Ten citations
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U-M women鈥檚 basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico
U-M women鈥檚 basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico makes her moves during a 76-66 win over Notre Dame, in December 2020. // Photograph courtesy of University of Michigan Athletics

Nearly 10 years ago, Kim Barnes Arico left the East Coast and her home of 40 years to become head coach of the University of Michigan women鈥檚 basketball team. Her mother sobbed in the middle of Chipotle when she broke the news. Why, she asked, was her daughter taking her three grandchildren hundreds of miles away?

For Barnes Arico, it was a no-brainer.

鈥淚 said, 鈥楳om, the University of Michigan is the greatest university in the world, and I have the opportunity to work there and be surrounded by excellence,鈥欌 Barnes Arico says. 鈥淚 knew I鈥檇 be learning from other coaches, administrators, and professors who were the best in their professions. I knew when I made that decision that I鈥檇 never want to go anywhere else.鈥

A decade later, as Barnes Arico sits on the cusp of becoming the first coach in U-M women鈥檚 basketball history to win 200 games, that choice seems prescient. As the 2021-22 season 鈥 her 10th 鈥 dawned in November, her U-M record stood at 193-102, so she鈥檒l probably pass that milestone as soon as December. If so, it will cap a record-breaking 2021, during which she took the team to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time in program history and coached forward Naz Hillmon, now a senior, to the program鈥檚 first Big Ten Player of the Year honor.

鈥淥ne word I鈥檇 use is demanding,鈥 Hillmon says. 鈥淪he wants the most out of her players because she knows what we鈥檙e capable of.鈥

In January, Hillmon broke a school record with 50 points and 16 rebounds against Ohio State, in an 81-77 loss. The feat drew acclaim on Instagram, from NBA legend and Buckeye fan LeBron James, but Barnes Arico focuses instead on what could have been better. 鈥淚 think both Naz and I would say that we wish it was a victory,鈥 she says.

That tenacity and focus drive Barnes Arico, who has taken the Wolverines to four NCAA Tournament appearances and coached 13 players to 24 All-Big Ten citations. The team had appeared in the tournament just five other times in the previous four decades it existed. Before arriving in Ann Arbor, Barnes Arico spent 10 seasons at St. John鈥檚 University in Queens, New York, where she led the women鈥檚 basketball team to five 20-win seasons and four NCAA Tournament appearances.

Barnes Arico says she believes her coaching is effective because she connects on a personal level with her players and colleagues. 鈥淵ou have to be able to build relationships 鈥 with coaching staff, student athletes, administration. Everyone needs to know you care about them, and you care about them as people first,鈥 she says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e so much more than basketball players.鈥

That became ever clearer in 2020, after Minneapolis police officers killed George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, and sparked nationwide outrage. Barnes Arico called Hillmon to ask how she could best support her and other Black members of the team. 鈥淪he said, 鈥榊ou can speak up 鈥 you should speak up, and I鈥檒l be right there behind you, next to you, wherever you need me to be,鈥欌 Hillmon says.

Barnes Arico is a mother figure to many players, in addition to being a mom to three of her own children: Trevor, 20; Emma, 16; and Cece, 13. That motherly instinct helped Barnes Arico to recruit all-time leading scorer and three-time All-Big Ten first-teamer Katelynn Flaherty, who graduated in 2018 and is now a sales consultant for the insurance firm Unum. Flaherty, 25, only felt comfortable moving away from her parents in New Jersey because Barnes Arico could help fill that void.

鈥淢y parents were nervous about me going so far; I鈥檓 an only child,鈥 Flaherty says. 鈥淗er role as a mom translates into how she coaches. She always tries to tie life lessons into everything, and she鈥檚 always there for you.鈥

Still, it鈥檚 the coach鈥檚 basketball acumen that led to some unlikely victories, says Melanie Moore, who coached alongside Barnes Arico until 2019, before becoming head coach of women鈥檚 basketball at Xavier University in Cincinnati. Moore recalls a squeaker of a win over Iowa, on the road in 2012, following some key in-game adjustments 鈥 one of Barnes Arico鈥檚 strengths. 鈥淪he got those kids to believe,鈥 Moore says. 鈥淲hen we first started coaching together, we sat down, and she went over her vision for the program. To see today that it鈥檚 hitting every goal is amazing.鈥

There鈥檚 often chatter about Barnes Arico being recruited by another college program or even WNBA teams. She says she鈥檚 a U-M lifer now. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e successful as a coach, sometimes people call,鈥 she says. 鈥淏ut I haven鈥檛 entertained any of those phone calls, and I don鈥檛 plan to.鈥


This story is featured in the December 2021 issue of 香港六合彩图库资料 magazine. Read more stories in our听digital edition.