The last several months have been trying times for everyone. Lockdowns, canceled events and social distancing have been aspects of life everyone has had to get used to during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the country is trying to get back some sense of normalcy and for college sports that means working toward returning to the court and field. In the Pac-12 that will not happen against other teams until the start of 2021.

For Arizona's women's basketball program that will mean around 10 months in between games with the time in between being quite the challenge for Adia Barnes and her squad. Last season the Wildcats were bound for the NCAA Tournament with a likely position as host in the first two rounds.

That quickly came to a halt when the coronavirus pandemic began sweeping through the sports world ultimately forcing the NCAA to cancel the event.

Since then Barnes and her staff have had to retool the roster as they moved toward the start of summer workouts and the upcoming season. That, too, has now been delayed with the Pac-12's recent decision to cancel competition until January.

For a coach who thought she would be getting closer to the start of official practices and the season, it is certainly a frustrating time although she is keeping an optimistic outlook.

"I didn't think we'd be in the same situation as we were in March, but I'm just a little more optimistic at this point because now at least we have a date and now our players are coming back," Barnes said Friday during a virtual media session with local reporters when reflecting back on the last several months. "So, I'm super excited to see the players faces. ... It's good to have the players here.

"We still don't have a lot of answers, but at least we got our players back. We're gonna be able to start lifting and be on the court soon in a couple months. So, I think it's good for the players to be here and have some kind of normalcy."

Arizona had to pause its reentry program earlier in the summer amid rising positive coronavirus cases in Pima County forcing the Wildcats to push back the arrival of its athletes. Barnes now has her team on campus and it will allow the program to move forward.

There will be a mix of new and familiar faces this season and it will take time for the group to jell and that will be important in the time before the start of games in January.

"When I look at the big picture it's not really a lot of time," Barnes said. "We were already phasing in now. So, let's say we're starting next week, we would have had three weeks of a phase-in and we would have slowly been on the court. We don't know what the players have been doing this whole time so it's a really slow process.

"So, when you think about that six weeks is really short because the phasing in is three or four weeks. So instead of us starting end of September, we're probably starting end of October for our 20 hours – I'm assuming – with the calendar. I think they've been waiting so long I'm challenging our players to be mentally, physically strong and get better at something right now. For me, I don't mind practicing. We're not gonna practice our 20 hours for four months but I don't mind having a little more time to practice and prepare our team because we have a chance to get better."

Right now the Wildcats are behind some other teams when it comes to the entire process since Arizona has been more deliberate and slow with its return to campus. Some schools in the Pac-12, along with programs in other conferences, have been full speed ahead with their reentry plans giving them a leg up on schools such as Arizona.

The NCAA is expected to come to a final decision about the calendar for both men's and women's basketball by the middle of next month and uniformity would certainly help Barnes feel better about the situation leading up to the season.

“My initial thought was, of course, a little bit upset, because I thought we had a huge disadvantage," Barnes said about how the decision by the Pac-12 could impact the team's preparations. "I’m talking to my friends in the SEC and they’ve been practicing for like 10 weeks, like on the court and stuff. So I did think that was a little bit of a disadvantage. And then I saw half the Pac-12, like ASU, Colorado, a lot of teams, were practicing so I did think that was a little bit of a disadvantage. But then when I looked at the flip side, a lot of places are starting up, then stopping again.

"So I felt we’re doing stuff safe the right way, and is a month gonna be do or die? No, but you know from a competitive standpoint, of course you to think about that. I think the Pac-12 coaches, what was brought up, was that in the SEC and some other conferences they've been practicing for a long time and we're not really touching our kids. ... If the SEC keeps their same schedule they could potentially have five-on-five full practices in like a month and a half. That would be a big disadvantage if everybody ins't shut down."

Arizona finished the 2019-20 season with 24 wins and finished the year ranked 12th in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

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