(Tempe, AZ) Natasha Adair has been named the head coach for the Arizona State University women’s basketball program, on March 28, 2022, as announced by Vice President for University Athletics and Athletics Director Ray Anderson.
A Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Coach of the Year, Adair’s coaching career includes stops at Georgetown, Wake Forest, College of Charleston and most recently, the University of Delaware.
“I am thrilled and honored to be named the new head women’s basketball coach here at Arizona State University,” said Adair. “President Crow and our Vice President for University Athletics, Ray Anderson, have efficiently built an elite university and athletics program that is innovative with a national brand; I am honored to be part of this illustrious team.”
Adair brings her talents to the west coast after five seasons at Delaware, where she compiled a 95-58 record (62.0 percent), including two back-to-back 20-win seasons, and captured the program’s third CAA title. In 2021-22, she coached the Blue Hens to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in nearly a decade.
Adair reached her 150th-career win against College of Charleston on January 7, 2022, the same place where she earned her first career win at the helm of a program. Earlier this month, Adair was named to the Advancement of Blacks in Sports (ABIS) Women’s Basketball Black Coaches Watch List.
A season ago, Adair took home the CAA Coach of the Year honors after she helped guide her squad to a regular-season title, WNIT Charlotte Region Championship and a WNIT semifinals appearance, finishing with a 24-5 overall record and 16-2 mark in league play. Adair’s team was named the statistical champion in offensive rebounds per game (20.3).
In her first season (2017-18) with the Blue Hens, Adair guided Delaware to its second most wins (19) and first postseason appearance since the 2013-14 campaign. Additionally, the Hens captured 10 conference victories for the first time since 2012-13.
“For nearly three decades, I’ve had the honor and privilege to coach and develop women student-athletes and am grateful for the opportunity to continue to do so here at ASU and in the Pac-12,” Adair continued. “From the moment I stepped onto campus, I knew this was the place for me to build and grow our women’s basketball program to a national power. We truly have it all. I am committed to leading with character and passion, ensuring our student-athletes win on and off the court, graduate, and serve – the ‘Sun Devil Way’! ASU has a tradition of success, and me and my staff will work tirelessly to win.”
Adair is no stranger to building a program following a long-tenured head coach. Both of her predecessors at Delaware and Georgetown held their roles for over 20 years. The Maryland native will be the first new head coach for Sun Devil Women’s Basketball in 25 years following the retirement of ASU’s most-winning head coach, Charli Turner-Thorne.
“Charli’s retirement leaves a legacy spanning 25 years, and in looking for the next leader of Sun Devil women’s basketball, we wanted a coach who could build off a long-tenured culture of success with respect for the past while also establishing their own unique identity to drive the program forward,” said Anderson. “We’re excited to have found that person in Natasha and look forward to the next era of Sun Devil women’s basketball.”
Under Adair, the Blue Hens distinguished themselves as offensive threats as Delaware averaged its most points (65.8) since 2012-13. Additionally, the Hens logged 80-plus points in six different contests for the first time in six seasons while logging five straight games of 70-plus points to open the year while UD only reached 70-plus points three times in each of the previous two seasons.
Adair, who has more than 20 years of coaching experience under her belt, has received the national attention of USA Basketball. She served as an assistant coach for the U18 Women’s National Basketball Team and the U19 Women’s World Cup Team Trials Court, where both teams took home Gold medals.
Adair joined the Blue Hens from Georgetown University, where she turned around a four-win Hoyas program to a postseason contender in three seasons as head coach. Behind Adair’s leadership, GU finished 2016-17 with a 17-13 record, the most wins for the Hoyas since 2011-12, and garnered the team’s second-straight trip to the Postseason WNIT.
At the College of Charleston, Adair posted a 35-31 overall record. In the Cougars’ first season in the CAA in 2013-14, Adair guided The College to a record of 19-15, marking the third-highest win total in the school’s Division I era. Additionally, the squad finished third in conference play, defeated five postseason teams from the previous year and advanced to the semifinals of both the CAA Championship and the Women’s Basketball invitational.
A founding member of the Black Coaches United, Adair has been recognized by the organization, as well as Advancement of Blacks in Sports (ABIS), as one of the top women’s basketball coaches in the country. Adair prides herself on being known as a game-changer as it relates to social justice and creating a safe space for athletes to find and use their voice; where she was a guest on ESPNW’s “Around the Rim” with LaChina Robinson and Delaware’s UD Winning Women in Athletics: Trailblazers and Changemakers Webinar Series. She is Delaware’s representative on the CAA United for Change committee along with being the head coach representative at the Student-Athletes Against Social Injustice Task Force educational session.
Adair played collegiately at Pensacola Junior College (1990-92) before playing and graduating from the University of South Florida with a degree in communications in 1994. Adair previously spent 14 seasons in the assistant coaching ranks, with eight years (2004-12) at Wake Forest University and six seasons (1998-04) at Georgetown University. Her coaching career has seen her develop and mentor four WNBA draft picks and several players who went on to play professionally overseas.
Adair has two children, her son Aaron, a recent summa cum laude graduate from Johnson C. Smith University, and her daughter Allyssa, a high school junior who aspires to play volleyball at the collegiate level.
“ASU, I’m ready! Team, fans, and alumni let’s go!”
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Paige Shacklett
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