Arizona State parts ways with women's basketball coach Natasha Adair

Arizona State's new athletics director Graham Rossini has made his first major coaching decision, though it wasn't the one many fans were anticipating. On Saturday morning, the Sun Devils parted ways with women's basketball head coach Natasha Adair.

Adair just concluded her third season leading the lady Sun Devils, finishing with her third straight losing season. The women's basketball team finished 10-22 with a dismal 3-15 record in the Big 12, their second straight year with just three conference wins. Arizona State ended up 15th in the conference for their efforts.

Adair did help lead her squad to a surprise win over Cincinnati, who finished 10th in the conference, in the opening round of the Big 12 conference tournament. However, the Sun Devils were eliminated in the next round by Iowa State, ending the season.

Adair was hired by Rossini's predecessor, Ray Anderson, prior to the 2022-23 season. She replaced Charli Turner Thorne, the winningest coach in program history, who retired. Stepping into some big shoes, Adair was coming off a successful tenure at Delaware, where the Fightin' Blue Hens had posted consecutive 24-win seasons.

That success did not carry over, though. In three seasons, Adair finished with just 29 career wins to 62 losses. Her initial hiring was met with skepticism due to Adair having spent the entirety of her coaching career on the east coast.

Of course, Adair was also tasked with replacing a legendary coach at a time when the changing landscape of college athletics made it even harder for non-revenue sports to succeed. She was fighting an uphill battle, but the Sun Devil fans had become used to greatness under Turner Thorne. Three straight losing seasons proved too much to handle.

Now, Arizona State turns its attentions to finding a new head coach. Rossini will conduct his first head coaching search as athletics director, and might potentially be adding another one to his plate with Bobby Hurley's status hanging in the balance. It will be interesting to see what kind of candidates Arizona State can attract.