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Baranczyk Semifinalist For National Coach of the Year
March 08, 2022 | Women's Basketball
NORMAN – Following one of the best turnarounds in the country and the best first season as a head coach in program history, Oklahoma head women's basketball coach was named a semifinalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year by the Atlanta Tipoff Club on Tuesday.
Baranczyk is one of 10 semifinalists and joins Baylor's Nicki Collen as one of two Big 12 coaches on the list. The winner will be announced on March 30.
The improvement for Oklahoma women's basketball from 12-12 last season to 23-7 in Baranczyk's first year marks the first time in program history for a first-year coach to improve by 10 wins in their first season. The 11-win jump is the second-largest overall in program history, trailing only Cathie Schweitzer, who increased the team's win total by 16 between the 1977 and 1978 seasons.
The 2022 Sooners reached 20 victories faster than all but two teams in school history, as the only two teams to hit 20 wins faster were a pair of Final Four teams.
Under Baranczyk, Oklahoma ascended into the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2017 and rose as high as No. 12 in the poll. In the most recent NCAA Selection Committee Top 16 Reveal, the Sooners earned the final No. 4 seed, which would award them hosting rights in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Baranczyk became the first coach in OU history to tally four wins over top-25 teams in year one as the Sooners swept Baylor and knocked off then-No. 9 Texas and then-No. 16 BYU. As a result, she was named the ESPN National Coach of the Week, and the Sooners are the two-time national team of the week.
The Sooners boast the best offense in the Big 12 Conference and one of the best nationally. Oklahoma's 83.7 points per game are the third-most in the country and tied for the second-most in program history. Powered by a Big 12-best 19.1 assists, the Sooners set a program record by sinking 283 3-pointers in the regular season.
The Sooners' offensive effort is balanced with seven players averaging 5.0 points per game (eight including Ana Llanusa's 17.3 PPG), including three that average double digits in Taylor Robertson, Madi Williams and Skylar Vann. OU ranks third nationally in free throws (473), sixth in 3-pointers made (283) and 46th in 2-pointers made (594).
Under her development, the Sooners landed two players, Robertson and Williams, on the All-Big 12 First Team. The two earned unanimous selections and gave OU its first pair of first-teamers in a decade.
Baranczyk has gotten the most out of her first Sooner team as she built around Williams and Robertson. The Sooners lost Llanusa (17.3 PPG) for the season on Dec. 10 and played without Gabby Gregory (16.6 PPG in 2020-21) for the first half of the season. Baranczyk and her staff helped Skylar Vann to a career-best season where the forward averaged 12.3 points and 5.7 rebounds off the bench. Freshman guard Kelbie Washington set program assists records for freshmen en route to an All-Freshman team selection.
Baranczyk's Sooners are the No. 4 seed in this week's Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship and take on No. 5-seeded Kansas in Friday's quarterfinals on ESPNU.
Baranczyk is one of 10 semifinalists and joins Baylor's Nicki Collen as one of two Big 12 coaches on the list. The winner will be announced on March 30.
The improvement for Oklahoma women's basketball from 12-12 last season to 23-7 in Baranczyk's first year marks the first time in program history for a first-year coach to improve by 10 wins in their first season. The 11-win jump is the second-largest overall in program history, trailing only Cathie Schweitzer, who increased the team's win total by 16 between the 1977 and 1978 seasons.
The 2022 Sooners reached 20 victories faster than all but two teams in school history, as the only two teams to hit 20 wins faster were a pair of Final Four teams.
Under Baranczyk, Oklahoma ascended into the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2017 and rose as high as No. 12 in the poll. In the most recent NCAA Selection Committee Top 16 Reveal, the Sooners earned the final No. 4 seed, which would award them hosting rights in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Baranczyk became the first coach in OU history to tally four wins over top-25 teams in year one as the Sooners swept Baylor and knocked off then-No. 9 Texas and then-No. 16 BYU. As a result, she was named the ESPN National Coach of the Week, and the Sooners are the two-time national team of the week.
The Sooners boast the best offense in the Big 12 Conference and one of the best nationally. Oklahoma's 83.7 points per game are the third-most in the country and tied for the second-most in program history. Powered by a Big 12-best 19.1 assists, the Sooners set a program record by sinking 283 3-pointers in the regular season.
The Sooners' offensive effort is balanced with seven players averaging 5.0 points per game (eight including Ana Llanusa's 17.3 PPG), including three that average double digits in Taylor Robertson, Madi Williams and Skylar Vann. OU ranks third nationally in free throws (473), sixth in 3-pointers made (283) and 46th in 2-pointers made (594).
Under her development, the Sooners landed two players, Robertson and Williams, on the All-Big 12 First Team. The two earned unanimous selections and gave OU its first pair of first-teamers in a decade.
Baranczyk has gotten the most out of her first Sooner team as she built around Williams and Robertson. The Sooners lost Llanusa (17.3 PPG) for the season on Dec. 10 and played without Gabby Gregory (16.6 PPG in 2020-21) for the first half of the season. Baranczyk and her staff helped Skylar Vann to a career-best season where the forward averaged 12.3 points and 5.7 rebounds off the bench. Freshman guard Kelbie Washington set program assists records for freshmen en route to an All-Freshman team selection.
Baranczyk's Sooners are the No. 4 seed in this week's Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship and take on No. 5-seeded Kansas in Friday's quarterfinals on ESPNU.
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