At her introductory press conference, new Arizona women’s basketball coach Becky Burke said that her first Wildcat staff would be announced all at once. News is trickling out about one of those staff members, though. It’s none other than a former Wildcat player, a longtime WNBA assistant coach, and the granddaughter of legendary coach Lute Olson.
Julie Brase-Hairgrove will be an assistant on Burke’s staff according to Arizona Daily Star columnist Greg Hansen.
Home run hire for new Arizona women’s basketball coach Becky Burke: She’s is hiring Tucson’s Julie Brase-Hargrove to be a top assistant coach. Julie coached 17 years in the WNBA, two in NCAA and holds the state scoring record for girls. Oh yeah, also Lute Olson’s granddaughter
— Greg Hansen (@ghansen711) April 17, 2025
Brase-Hairgrove spent 17 years coaching in the WNBA. She was kept on staff with the Phoenix Mercury through several head coaches, beginning in 2005. She helped coach the team to all three of its titles. She finally left the staff in 2022 during its last head coaching change. She has been working in real estate over the past few years.
Prior to her long stint in the professional ranks, Brase-Hairgrove coached at Loyola Marymount for two years. That was also a title team, winning the WCC championship in 2004.
Brase-Hairgrove finished her prep career with the Arizona girls’ high school basketball record for scoring. She averaged 26.8 points per game and had a total of 2,913 career points from 1994-1998. She helped Catalina Foothills win the girls’ state championship in 1997.
Brase-Hairgrove went on to play for Joan Bonvicini at Arizona for four years. Two of those were as team captain. The program went to the NCAA Tournament three times over that period.
Her local achievements earned her a spot in the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame.
For years, Brase-Hairgrove said she liked being a WNBA assistant because it allowed her time to be the kind of mother she wanted to be. As a summer league, she was able to be home with her three children during the school year. She started to express a desire to be a head coach later in her career, but she didn’t know if she wanted to coach in college because of the recruiting demands.
However, times have changed, her children are older, and apparently, she has changed her mind about the world of college basketball.
Burke helps tie her program to Arizona’s past with this hire. She still has at least three other hires to make to complete her coaching staff. The previous staff had three assistants and a special assistant to the head coach that was essentially a fourth assistant coach. Whether that role will be filled is unknown.
The staff page currently lists three holdovers from Adia Barnes’ staff. In addition to Burke, director of basketball operations Lauren Flaum, director of recruiting operations Ryan Thorne, and associate athletic trainer Bart Jameson are listed as current staff members.