Arizona was able to build on a successful finish to the 2018-19 season and a WNIT championship by becoming a consistent part of the Associated Press Top 25 this year and finishing with 25 victories. It helped the Wildcats land multiple postseason honors and had put the team in position to host in the NCAA Tournament before the event was canceled back in early March.

UA showed that it is capable of beating top competition as well with wins over top-10 opponents Oregon State and Stanford. Those are the types of things top recruits want to see to be convinced that a school is the right fit for them and now Arizona is entering some new territory because of it.

Head coach Adia Barnes has had a knack for finding pieces that thrive in her system and her blend of talent and development has helped get the Wildcats to this point. Now that UA has arrived in many ways the conversation has started to change. Now the challenge is to remain at the top and push for more.

To sustain it Barnes knows that means recruiting at a different level and having a different message about her program than she had when she arrived.

"It's completely different," Barnes said when asked how her recruiting message has changed after the season the Wildcats had this year. "Remember when I first got here it was selling a vision. Even in the year of the NIT, no one knew what we were going to do and everybody wants to make the tournament. So, I think before I was selling a vision like, 'we can be good, we can compete' but there wasn't any proof.

"I think now we have the proof."

Everything will be part of that proof from Aari McDonald's postseason accolades to the continued development of players like Sam Thomas and Cate Reese. Even Tucson itself has become an even bigger selling point because of the fan support the team has received over the last two years.

"Now for big games we have over 10,000 people," Barnes said. "We were second in attendance this year, I think we can be first next year or toward the top so one of the top 12 in the country. I think that's what kids like and I have the proof of that and evidence to show, 'look at our arena, wouldn't you want to play in this environment?'

"I think the difference is we have so much momentum. So, it's a lot easier to sell to a top player when we're preseason No. 7. People are talking, after we got Trinity [Baptiste] that 'oh we can win a National Championship.' That enables you to get better kids."

McDonald is going again to be one of the top players in the game next season and the pieces around her continue to improve. The Wildcats believe they have the type of roster that can compete for the top prize and a lot of that success is due to the growth of the group over the last few years.

"Great players want to see that and they want to see how you use other great players so they can see how they fit," Barnes said. "... I always tell recruits to look for evidence. We value player development. We do it a lot, everyday. So I say to look at the kids when they're freshmen, look at them when they're a sophomore.

"They should be improving, if not we're not doing our job. Now we're kind of building up that resume where you can look back and look at how players are getting better."

As Arizona continues to raise its level of expectations on the recruiting side it has found itself in a different type of territory. The Wildcats are not the big fish in certain recruitments now as the level of the programs involved has changed.

"The downfall and the hard thing is when you get the better kids you recruit less but you're recruiting, let's say, an elite 20 kid. Well you know who is recruiting them? UConn, Baylor, Louisville, South Carolina and those teams have already done some of those things," Barnes said. "So, now I think the competition is even a little harder. I think before you could go get that three-star kid and just kind of figure it out. I think now you need the kids who can help you win a championship. ... It's much easier to sell when you're winning."

Barnes said Arizona has become more active in the South and on the East Coast with the West Coast, particularly California, currently being "down" in talent adding another layer to the current challenge for the the Wildcats' coaches.

UA has already landed one recruit for the 2021 class this spring as in-state guard Madison Conner gave the program her pledge last month.