Aarion McDonald loved playing the Washington women’s basketball team and coach Mike Neighbors. Thing is, she’s always loved her family more.
So when Neighbors left Washington for the University of Arkansas this offseason — returning to his native state and paying Washington a buyout of $1 million — McDonald never contemplated trekking southeast.
The University of Arizona, and a staff led by head coach Adia Barnes, who McDonald already had a relationship with, made more sense.
“No, he’s too far,” said McDonald, a 2016 Brookside Christian graduate, on the potential of following Neighbors to Fayetteville, Arkansas.