Arizona hires former WNBA player Michelle Marciniak as women's basketball GM

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TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona women's basketball has hired former WNBA player and Tennessee star Michelle Marciniak as general manager.

Marciniak will handle program operations, staffing, roster management, global recruiting and NIL development for the program that recently hired Becky Burke as head coach.

“I’m truly honored to step into the GM role at Arizona,” Marciniak said in a statement Thursday. “This opportunity brings together everything I care deeply about — the business of basketball, leadership, and building something meaningful alongside others. I’ve been shaped by a championship mindset, and I’m committed to contributing in a way that honors the incredible foundation already in place.

Marciniak played under Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt from 1993-96, earning consecutive trips to the Final Four and a national championship in 1996, when she was named most outstanding player. She played six seasons in the WNBA and ABL before landing a job as an assistant at South Carolina, where she helped recruit Burke.

Marciniak co-founded performance bedding company SHEEX, spending 17 years as the company's CEO. She becomes one of a handful of GMs in women's college basketball and the second hired this year, joining Cal's Meghin Williams.

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