After leading Delaware to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in nearly a decade, Natasha Adair will look to bring the same kind of success to Tempe.

Adair was named the new head coach of the Arizona State women’s basketball program on Sunday. The Maryland native will be the first new head coach for Sun Devil women’s basketball in 25 years as she’ll replace Charli Turner Thorne, ASU’s winningest coach in program history who announced her retirement after the season came to a close.

“I am thrilled and honored to be named the new head women’s basketball coach here at Arizona State University,” Adair said in a release. “President Crow and our Vice President for University Athletics, Ray Anderson, have efficiently built an elite university and athletics program that is innovative with a national brand; I am honored to be part of this illustrious team.

“For nearly three decades, I’ve had the honor and privilege to coach and develop women student-athletes and am grateful for the opportunity to continue to do so here at ASU and in the Pac-12. From the moment I stepped onto campus, I knew this was the place for me to build and grow our women’s basketball program to a national power. We truly have it all. I am committed to leading with character and passion, ensuring our student-athletes win on and off the court, graduate, and serve the ‘Sun Devil Way’! ASU has a tradition of success, and me and my staff will work tirelessly to win.”

Adair is stepping into a program that won at least 20 games a season for seven straight years from 2013-20 but hasn’t had a winning record in either of the two seasons since. The Sun Devils went 12-12 during the 2020-21 season and then finished this year with seven straight losses to close 12-14.

During her five seasons at Delaware, Adair led the program to three Colonial Athletic Association titles and posted back-to-back 20-win seasons. Adair was named the CAA Coach of the Year in 2021.

Prior to taking over at Delaware, Adair coached at Georgetown and the College of Charleston, both places where she was able to take losing programs and turn them into winners. GU finished the 2016-17 season at 17-13, the most wins for a season in five years at that point. At Charleston, she helped guide the Cougars to a 19-15 record in 2013-14. That mark was the third-best in the program’s D1 history and it came during their first season in the CAA.

She also served as an assistant coach on the U18 Women’s National Basketball Team and the U19 Women’s World Cup Team Trials Court, both squads that took home Gold medals.

“Charli’s retirement leaves a legacy spanning 25 years, and in looking for the next leader of Sun Devil women’s basketball, we wanted a coach who could build off a long-tenured culture of success with respect for the past while also establishing their own unique identity to drive the program forward,” said Anderson in a release. “We’re excited to have found that person in Natasha and look forward to the next era of Sun Devil women’s basketball.”

Adair is also a founding member of the Black Coaches United, Delaware’s representative on the CAA United for Change committee, and the head coach representative at the Student-Athletes Against Social Injustice Task Force educational session.