UNCW's Barefoot Refuses to Slow Down
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UNCW’s Barefoot Refuses to Slow Down By Alex Riley, Wilmington StarNews | May 17, 2017 Karen Barefoot is going to sleep one day. But not today. And possibly not anytime soon. “I haven’t had much sleep. Yesterday, I had to put ice on my eyes, seriously. They hurt so bad,” she joked after being formally introduced as the new UNCW women’s basketball coach on Wednesday. Nicknamed “Red Bull” by a Virginia high school coach because of her seemingly unlimited supply of energy, Barefoot has tested her limits through the first two weeks on the job. She’s already hired two assistants, landed several transfers, set up her first youth camp and met more UNCW staff members, fans and donors than she can recall. And it appears she’s just getting started. “I’m basically homeless right now staying with two people that have really kind of adopted me. But that’s what you do,” Barefoot said with a laugh. “You don’t worry about the living (arrangements), you don’t worry about the sleep right now. You’re just trying to get this program up and going and I’m excited about it.” Barefoot is trying to kick start a program that has known limited success since it began in 1973. The Seahawks had eight winning seasons in the program’s first 15 years. Since then, nine winning campaigns in 29 years. The program has just four 20-win seasons and two postseason berths. UNCW interviewed three candidates, but Barefoot’s energy and drive stood out above the rest, leaving athletic director Jimmy Bass and other staff members impressed. “After the first meeting when she was here on her interview, somebody said we need to give her decaffeinated water. And I’m OK with that I really am,” Bass said. “We can’t do the same things that we’ve been doing, and that in no way is a criticism of anybody. We’ve got to do things differently – the basketball student-athletes have got to see that we’re doing things differently.” The change appears to be a welcome one as Rutgers transfers Shrita Parker and Ashli Jeune have already committed. East Columbus standout Charity Powell, the only member of Adell Harris’ last signing class, is still coming to Wilmington. ODU transfer Gianna Smith, who was at the press conference, could be joining the program with two years of eligibility left. The returning UNCW players haven’t gotten much time with their new coach, but already they can see things are going to be very different. “I’m ready for her. I’m excited. I’ve got as much energy as she does, so we’ll see,” sophomore Timber Tate said. With former Delaware coach Tina Martin and Old Dominion assistant Jermaine Jones already on staff, Barefoot is close to filling a staff before she’s even found a place to live. That’s just how she operates. The season is still months away and Barefoot recognizes she’s got a ton of work to do if the Seahawks are going to be more than a mediocre program. It won’t be hard finding time to get the job done. “I think with this group, they just need a little bit of belief. As soon as we start to see success, I think we’ll start climbing that ladder up to the top,” Barefoot said. At 100 Days Into Her Tenure, Barefoot Going 100 MPH By Alex Riley, Wilmington StarNews | Aug. 28, 2017 Before this conversation can start, Karen Barefoot has to finish other conversations. The stream of text messages from assistant coaches, staff members, current players and recruits doesn’t seem to stop. Everyone wants to check in, get feedback or just say hello. By the time this conversation is done, Barefoot has another half dozen messages to answer. Everyone needs a moment of her time. Right now, time is a precious commodity. After 100 days in Wilmington, the new UNCW women’s basketball coach sees where the program is. She’s developed a plan for where it needs to go. To get from here to there involves a lot of talking, working and time. “I think the little thing we have to do is constant communication and making sure I address all the issues that could come. We let everybody know here that to build something everybody has to be all in,” Barefoot said. “We say that all the time – all in. You cannot be 90 percent or 80 percent, it’s got to be over 100 percent. We do one more than everybody else. We have to work harder.” Changing the culture The joint of Barefoot’s ring finger on her left hand has a slight crookedness to it. It wasn’t always that way. Her first practices with UNCW lacked energy. There was no aggressiveness or urgency. Along with her assistants, Barefoot stepped into drills, challenging players to improve. She knew when the message stuck. “I tried to block someone’s shot and I learned real quick that I need to be careful because they started getting tougher,” Barefoot said. “All of sudden, my finger snapped. One thing about it was I didn’t quit, I kept playing, taped it up and I showed them a little bit of toughness.” What Barefoot inherited when she came to the Port City was a downtrodden program with little to be excited about. The Seahawks have 16 winning seasons since debuting in 1973, but only four with 20-plus victories. They’ve made two WNIT appearances, but never been to the NCAA Tournament or captured a CAA title. The last winning campaign was 2011-12. Last season was supposed to different, but turned into more of the same with an 11-20 finish. No Seahawk player earned All-CAA honors for their play, making UNCW the only league team without an all-conference selection. Turning struggles into success isn’t a quick fix. Thanks what enticed Barefoot to the job. “It’s not just about me coming in here and saying, ‘This is my way, here’s my system.’ I want to make sure I know who they are, where I’m coming from and my expectations,” Barefoot said. “They’re taking it serious. I’ve had a lot of meetings with them and I think that’s important as you’re building trust.” Barefoot’s up-tempo pace has been very different from what the Seahawks were accustomed to. The first few days of practice left players winded, exhausted and sore. Conditioning has been an offseason priority. The transformation, Barefoot says, has been “a 180” from those initial days. The Seahawks are stronger, quicker, more focused and able to withstand the rigors of what she is putting them through. “One thing I wanted them to do was compete. I wanted to see some emotion after a win or loss. I wanted to see they really cared. At first, I was really pushing for that,” Barefoot said. “I kind of saw a pulse in them. That was a good sign.” Challenging the status quo A large portion of the schedule was already built when Barefoot arrived, yet she wasn’t completely satisfied. The easy route would have been to fill openings with regional mid-majors in hopes of earning a victory. At worst, she could have added a Division II team that would have almost certainly been a guaranteed win. Instead, she went the opposite direction. In addition to playing at North Carolina on Nov. 22, the Seahawks will travel to Pittsburgh on Dec. 9. It’s the second- straight year UNCW has faced two Power Five opponents in nonconference action. The Seahawks have only three wins in program history against that level of competition, the last coming during the 2002 against Pittsburgh. “I believe that you can build a great program and we have seniors. So why not challenge this group and raise the bar?” Barefoot said. “I was like I want y’all to have a strong belief, to know that you can compete with these teams and you can win some games.” To prepare the squad for that challenge, as well as CAA play, Barefoot is relying on talent the general public won’t see in a Seahawk uniform for at least a season. Her first three signees were all transfers from other Division I programs. Former Rutgers guard Shrita Parker and ex-Old Dominion standout Gianna Smith, who Barefoot coached the last two years, will spend the next year sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules. Both players were key starters at their old institutions. Ashli Jeune, also a Rutgers transfer, is still appealing to the NCAA for the chance to play this after sitting out 2016-17 with an ACL injury, but she could also be a behind the scenes talent that could help make the team better. “It’s been great because I think that the three that we have have experience and they’re great leaders. And I think that for them, they want to come in here and make this group better,” Barefoot said. “We want to make it like everything that we do is championship mentality. I think that’s what they’re going to bring. I think that’s what they’re going to bring out – the best in everybody else and how important it is to compete and give your best all the time.” Ready to win There are a couple different versions of the photo, but they all look similar. The moment is generally captured during homecoming or some major weekend conference battle, but it always showcases Trask Coliseum packed to the brim with teal clad fans watching the men’s basketball team.