TUCSON — Arizona Women's Basketball adds former Kent State head coach Todd Starkey as new associate head coach.
After finishing last season with a 12-18 record, the Arizona Women’s Basketball team is rebuilding its program starting with the addition of Todd Starkey as associate head coach.
Head coach Becky Burke, who just wrapped up her first season, brings in Starkey, a veteran with more than 25 years of collegiate coaching experience. Starkey spent the last 10 seasons as the head coach at Kent State University.
It is not often a head coach leaves that role to become an associate, similar to when Jack Murphy left Northern Arizona University to be Tommy Lloyd's top assistant.
"Was so excited about Coach Burke’s passion for rebuilding this program… Arizona is a special place for basketball obviously, so I was excited about it," Starkey said.
Starkey said Burke's vision made the choice easy.
"Is there a more passionate coach in the country than Coach Burke? She sold me pretty hard on it… she was very convincing," Starkey said.
Starkey leaves Kent State as the second-winningest coach in school history with a 179-127 record.
During his tenure, he guided the Golden Flashes to an NCAA Tournament appearance, four Postseason WNIT berths, and two Mid-American Conference East Division titles.
Both coaches share a hatred for losing and a drive for postseason success.
"She wants to win Big 12 Championships, play in Final Fours… I’m all about pursuing championships," Starkey said.
The Tucson community's support also added to the excitement for the new associate head coach.
"11th in the country for attendance (last season)… and we weren’t at our best. I can’t wait to see what this place looks like when we’re putting together wins," Starkey said.
Before his decade at Kent State, Starkey spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Indiana University Bloomington and served as the head women's basketball coach at Lenoir-Rhyne University from 2005 to 2014. He was named the WBCA Division II National Coach of the Year in 2009.
