ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV

After being hired as Arizona’s women’s basketball coach on April 9, Burke quickly assembled a staff and set about finding players. They needed a bunch — only one member of the 2024-25 Wildcats didn’t graduate or enter the transfer portal — and used every available avenue. Those included the portal, high school recruits and the international market.

Arizona ended up with 12 newcomers. Eight previously played for four-year institutions. Two were graduating high school seniors who had committed to Burke at Buffalo. The other two came from overseas.

Burke and her staff sought not only talent but makeup.

“From a personality standpoint, a character standpoint, can they play for somebody like me?� said Burke, whose team opens the season Thursday vs. UC Riverside. “Can they be held to the standard I’m going to hold these players (to)? Also, are they good enough?�

How the pieces will fit together is anyone’s guess.

Here’s a player-by-player look at the 2025-26 Arizona Wildcats:

F Blessing Adebanjo | 14

Class: Sophomore

From: Lagos, Nigeria

Previous team: Yamanashi Gakuin University

Height: 6-3

Nickname: Adde

Stats: 15.1 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 4.0 apg, 7.7 bpg as a freshman at Yamanashi Gakuin in Kofu, Japan, in 2024-25

Notable: Arizona announced the signing of Adebanjo on Sept. 3 after she spent the previous four years studying and playing in Japan.

She said it: “From (a standpoint of) athleticism, body, ability to run the floor, defend multiple positions, she's absolutely incredible. What we're working on with her right now is IQ and just getting up to speed with the rest of the crew, because she missed two months of summer.� — Burke

G Noelani Cornfield | 4

Class: Graduate

From: Gowanda, N.Y.

Previous team: Buffalo

Height: 5-6

Nickname: Lani

Stats: 10.9 ppg, 5.9 apg, 4.1 rpg, 2.5 spg as a graduate student at Buffalo in 2024-25

Notable: Cornfield was named to the all-tournament team after helping Buffalo win the 2025 WNIT championship under Burke.

She said it: “I’m small but mighty. I've always been the underdog. But I have felt I play like the biggest player on the court.� — Cornfield

F Montaya Dew | 12

Class: Redshirt junior

From: Las Vegas

Previous team: N/A

Height: 6-2

Nickname: Taya

Stats: 2.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.8 apg as a redshirt sophomore at Arizona in 2024-25

Notable: Dew is out indefinitely while rehabbing a knee injury suffered Feb. 25 vs. Texas Tech. She’s the only returning player from last year’s team.

She said it: “I had my family. I had my people around me. And then Coach Becky, as soon as she got the job, she reached out to me. I never felt alone when that whole situation happened.� — Dew

F Nora Francois | 13

Class: Fifth-year

From: Minneapolis

Previous team: New Orleans

Height: 6-2

Nickname: N/A

Stats: 15.0 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 82.6 FT% as a senior at New Orleans in 2024-25

Notable: Francois had 19 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists vs. East Texas A&M on Feb. 20, becoming the first Southland Conference player to record a triple-double since 2019.

She said it: “Eye-opening, jaw-dropping, heart-fluttering. All of it. It was amazing.� — Francois on this summer’s team meet-and-greet at the Tucson Racquet & Fitness Club

G Mireia Jurado | 8

Class: Freshman

From: Barcelona, Spain

Previous team: Segle XXI

Height: 6-0

Nickname: MJ

Stats: 6.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg for Segle XXI in 2024-25

Notable: Jurado played for Spain’s U16 and U17 national teams and helped the Spaniards win a bronze medal in the 2024 FIBA U17 World Cup.

She said it: “I love the way she plays. I want to be like her. And she made a huge impact here, right?� — Jurado on former Wildcat and fellow Spaniard Helena Pueyo

G Kamryn Kitchen | 1

Class: Redshirt freshman

From: Charlotte, N.C.

Previous team: Virginia

Height: 5-9

Nickname: N/A

Stats: 16.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2.4 spg, 42.4 3pt% as a junior at Independence High School

Notable: Kitchen reclassified after her junior year of high school and enrolled at Virginia, where she redshirted last season.

She said it: “Very fast-paced. Very energetic. Offense and defense. You're going to hear my voice. You’re going to feel my presence on the court. Sharpshooter. I think I can get a shot off whenever I want. I think I make the right play, can get my teammates open.� — Kitchen on her game

G Molly Ladwig | 5

Class: Freshman

From: Omaha, Neb.

Previous team: Skutt Catholic HS

Height: 5-9

Nickname: N/A

Stats: 19.0 ppg as a senior at Skutt Catholic in 2024-25

Notable: Ladwig led Skutt Catholic to a state championship last season after the Skyhawks finished as the runner-up the previous two years.

She said it: “There are a lot of people here that love women's basketball, and that's a huge thing that drew me here. Why would you not want to go down to Tucson and play in front of people that value it this much?� — Ladwig

C Achol Magot | 20

Class: Redshirt sophomore

From: Tucson

Previous team: Texas Tech

Height: 6-7

Nickname: N/A

Stats: 13.8 ppg, 12.6 rpg, 3.9 bpg, 1.8 spg in 16 games at Southern Arizona Prep from 2021-23

Notable: Magot began her high school career at Salpointe Catholic. At Texas Tech, she played under UA assistant coach Ashley Odom.

She said it: “At 6-7, she brings tremendous presence, size, power, ability to score with two feet in the paint. You can feed her a little bit differently ... in the post. And she's healthy now.� — Burke

G Mickayla Perdue | 0

Class: Graduate

From: Springfield, Ohio

Previous team: Cleveland State

Height: 5-7

Nickname: Mickey

Stats: 20.0 ppg, 3.3 apg, 84.5 FT% as a grad student at Cleveland State in 2024-25

Notable: Perdue was named the Horizon League Player of the Year in 2024-25 after being named the league’s Newcomer of the Year the previous season.

She said it: “I bleed the game. I sleep the game. Basketball is my everything and ... my escape from everything. I think she (Burke) knows that, she sees that and she sees that I'm just here to win.� — Perdue

G Sumayah Sugapong | 3

Class: Junior

From: San Diego

Previous team: UC San Diego

Height: 5-7

Nickname: N/A

Stats: 15.0 ppg, 3.7 apg, 2.5 spg as a sophomore at UC San Diego in 2024-25

Notable: Sugapong was teammates with former Wildcats Breya Cunningham and Jada Williams at La Jolla Country Day School and twice played against Arizona during her two seasons UCSD.

She said it: “That was probably the biggest crowd I've played against. That energy in there is just unmatched. We got smacked. That was a fun experience. Just a great program, great competition.� — Sugapong on playing at McKale Center as a freshman

F Daniah Trammell | 33

Class: Freshman

From: Cincinnati

Previous team: Winton Woods HS

Height: 6-1

Nickname: N/A

Stats: 14.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.9 spg as a senior at Winton Woods in 2024-25

Notable: Like Ladwig, Trammell signed with Buffalo before following Burke to Arizona — and helped her high school team win a state championship as a senior.

She said it: “One thing y'all gonna know about me, I will sacrifice my body for my teammates in a heartbeat. If I gotta get a weave pulled out, if I gotta dive on the ground, if I gotta get elbowed in the chest, in the mouth, I'm just willing to do it.� — Trammell

F Fredriecka Wallace | 10

Class: Redshirt Junior

From: Lincoln, Neb.

Previous team: Kansas

Height: 6-2

Nickname: Freddie

Stats: 18.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg as a sophomore at Butler Community College in 2023-24

Notable: Wallace began her college career at Butler CC in El Dorado, Kansas. She signed with KU but did not play during her one season in Lawrence because of injury.

She said it: “I feel like everybody has something to prove, no matter what their story is, no matter where they came from. When you come to the Big 12, you always got something to prove because everybody's good at this level.� — Wallace

G Tanyuel Welch | 11

Class: Redshirt junior

From: Indianapolis

Previous team: Memphis

Height: 5-10

Nickname: T

Stats: 10.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.2 apg as a redshirt sophomore at Memphis in 2024-25

Notable: Welch missed her second season at Memphis after suffering a knee injury in practice. She was a first-team all-state performer at Indianapolis’ North Central High School.

She said it: “Everything I do, I do it hard. I try to make sure I'm the best in everything. It doesn't matter what it is. It could be something that's not my strength, like, let's say, posting up. I'm still going to try to be the best at it.� — Welch