In fact, they are Polo opposites.

Arizona women鈥檚 basketball coach Adia Barnes is a style queen. Her gameday getups are bold and confident. When new UA athletic director Desire茅 Reed-Francois was introduced last week, and staffers were required to suit up for the occasion, Barnes was one of the few people in the room who, relatively speaking, dressed down.

Former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick roamed NFL sidelines in team-issued sweatshirts with cutoff sleeves. His hair was often unkempt. I have no proof of this, but I swear that every time he appeared as a studio analyst he wore the same suit. He was all business, all the time.

Despite their differences in dapperness, one could argue that Barnes鈥� coaching performance this season has been Belichickian in every sense.

On the court, Barnes鈥� maneuvers have been masterful. Despite often having as few as seven available players, Barnes has guided Arizona to a .500 record in the Pac-12 entering the final week of the regular season, which starts Thursday vs. No. 7 USC. The Trojans are one of seven conference clubs in the Top 25 of the . The Wildcats are No. 33. They鈥檝e inched up into the 鈥淔irst Four Out鈥� in 鈥� an inconceivable accomplishment just a couple of weeks ago.

Off the court, as her program鈥檚 de facto general manager, Barnes has been hit-or-miss. Her eye for talent cannot be questioned; freshmen Jada Williams, Breya Cunningham and Skylar Jones, for instance, look like program cornerstones. But the dearth of depth cannot solely be blamed on bad luck and injuries. Enough players have left of their own volition, or have been nudged out the door, to suggest a disconnect between Barnes and at least some of them.

Belichick鈥檚 bona fides as a head coach are unassailable. His nine Super Bowl appearances and six wins are the most of all time. He鈥檚 the greatest ever at preparing his team for the 60 minutes inside the white lines.

He did that almost in spite of himself at times. Belichick鈥檚 record as a drafter 鈥� he was more involved in that aspect than most NFL head coaches 鈥� was spotty at best, especially in recent years.

In all college sports besides football, where every competitive program now has an NFL-style 鈥渇ront office,鈥� the head coach is also the GM. Assistants aid in the recruiting process, but it鈥檚 mostly the head coach鈥檚 responsibility. So when judging a college coach鈥檚 performance, both elements 鈥� game management and roster management 鈥� must be taken into consideration.

Barnes deserves an 鈥淎鈥� when it comes to the X鈥檚 and O鈥檚, maybe even an A-plus. Oregon State鈥檚 Scott Rueck is probably the favorite to win Pac-12 Coach of the Year, but you could make a strong case for Barnes based on the roster situation alone.

Arizona鈥檚 stunning upset of then-No. 3 Stanford last week came on a day when Cardinal star Cameron Brink was unavailable because of illness. Brink could be the Pac-12 Player of the Year, and she dominated the Wildcats in the previous meeting (25 points and 20 rebounds in 26 minutes).

Well, you know who was unavailable for Arizona? Almost half the team. That鈥檚 been the case for a while as injuries and other issues created what Barnes on Wednesday labeled a 鈥渕ass exodus.鈥�

Despite a short bench making it difficult to practice and leaving a minimal margin for error in games 鈥� you鈥檙e constantly one injury or foul-out away from having serious personnel problems 鈥� the Wildcats have been a tough out more often than not.

Even before the current four-game winning streak that has put 蜜桃影像AV on the NCAA bubble, the Wildcats took better, deeper teams down to the wire. From Jan. 5-19, they went 1-4. The four losses came by a combined eight points, including one in double overtime at OSU. The win came in overtime by one point over a ranked Utah squad.

Barnes has been starting three freshmen, so Arizona doesn鈥檛 have much experience. The Wildcats don鈥檛 have a ton of size. But the seven mainstays 鈥� Esmery Martinez, Helena Pueyo, Isis Beh, Courtney Blakeley, Williams, Cunningham and Jones 鈥� have tremendous chemistry. They play with heart and unrelenting effort. They play hard for each other and for Barnes.

A common refrain among the players, according to Beh, is 鈥淭hat鈥檚 all we got.鈥� It has become the 2023-24 Wildcats鈥� rallying cry.

How did they get what they鈥檝e got?

The troubles began in the summer when freshman Montaya Dew, a Top 10 prospect, suffered a season-ending torn ACL. Then a transfer, Fanta Gassama, was removed from the roster.

Another transfer, Salimatou Kourouma, dislocated her shoulder at the end of an exhibition game in which she had played every minute because Arizona had only five healthy players. She later elected to have season-ending surgery.

Maya Nnaji left the program in December to focus on academics. (She鈥檚 pre-med.) Not long after, she wrote on social media that the UA program had a 鈥渢oxic environment鈥� 鈥� comments she seemed to regret but never completely walked back, either.

Finally, Barnes parted ways with leading scorer Kailyn Gilbert, who鈥檇 been in and out of the lineup for mostly undisclosed reasons.

Just like that, Arizona鈥檚 gameday roster shrunk from 12 to seven.

Obviously, Barnes had nothing to do with Dew鈥檚 injury. Kourouma鈥檚 could have been avoided if Barnes had elected not to play that exhibition game. It would have been complicated to cancel. But it was probably the right thing to do.

The Nnaji and Gilbert situations have even more layers of complexity, but the bottom line is this: They represented half of the highly rated class of 2022 鈥� and all of them are now gone.

Barnes said Wednesday that she wished she had constructed the 2022-23 roster differently so that those freshmen 鈥� also including Paris Clark and Lemyah Hylton 鈥� could have played more. 鈥淟ooking back,鈥� Barnes said, 鈥淚 probably would have balanced that a little bit better.鈥�

Clark did end up playing quite a bit down the stretch. Nnaji was a rotation regular until she left. And Gilbert averaged 28 minutes this season. So there鈥檚 more to it than just playing time.

Something was missed in terms of fit and character. And the exodus wasn鈥檛 limited to the class of 鈥�22. Barnes misidentified the makeup of several players she brought in in recent years 鈥� which has led Barnes the GM to recalibrate how she builds a team for Barnes the coach.

She has two roles, so she must answer two questions: 鈥淗ow are you going to build? And what do I do well?鈥�

鈥淚'm better,鈥� she has concluded, 鈥渨ith a team that has continuity and stays together longer.鈥�

That comes with a short-term sacrifice: Winning. Barnes believes she could have signed higher-profile transfers and won more this year. But if she had done that, she said, 鈥淚t was gonna be the same thing 鈥� I would have lost all these kids.鈥�

鈥淪o now,鈥� she added, 鈥渢he balancing act is bringing them back, developing them and then bringing in some transfers that complement them.鈥�

No one ever said being the coach and GM is easy. It鈥檚 a constant struggle.

鈥淣o days off,鈥� someone who had both roles .

That someone? Bill Belichick.