Baranczyk Signs Two Top-100 Players in 2024 Class

NORMAN – University of Oklahoma head women's basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk announced the signing of two standout prospects in the 2024 recruiting class on Friday.

Zya Vann and Caya Smith, the top two players in Oklahoma and top-70 players nationally, will join the Sooners ahead of the 2024-25 season, OU's first in the Southeastern Conference.

ZYA VANN | 5-9 | GUARD

Vann, a four-star prospect from Bethany HS (Okla.), will join the Sooners as the No. 1 player in the state and as the 46th-best player in the nation per ESPN. The younger sister of current Oklahoma standout Skylar Vann, she averaged 18.9 points, 5.3 assists and 5.3 steals per game as a junior last season as she helped guide Bethany to a state championship. She was tabbed as the No. 54 prospect in the class by BlueStar Basketball and was named MVP of the Class 4A Oklahoma State Tournament last season after averaging 15.7 points per game in the title run. Vann is a Adidas 3SSB All-American and also played under current OU assistant coach as a freshman at Norman HS (Okla.) where she helped the Tigers to a state championship.

CAYA SMITH | 6-1 | WING

Smith, another consensus four-star prospect, comes to Norman from Putnam City West HS (Okla.) as the No. 70 player and No. 9 wing in the 2024 class. As a junior, she led the Putnam City West team to the Class 6A state tournament and a conference championship, collecting the conference's most valuable player award from The Oklahoman. The 6'1" wing starred with Vann on the Lady Jets Elite AAU team that thrived on the AAU circuit over the last two years. A dual-sport athlete, Smith was the Class 6A long jump state champion last season. The standout averaged 13.2 points per game as a junior, leading PC West to the Class 6A semifinals and earning a Super 5 third-team selection by The Oklahoman.

The two mark the third and fourth signees from Oklahoma under Baranczyk. It's the first time since 2016 that the Sooners have signed two top-70 prospects and just the second time since 2019 that Oklahoma has inked a pair of top-100 players (2019).

Baranczyk has led OU to the NCAA Tournament in each of her first three seasons, winning the program's first Big 12 championship since 2009 last season. The No. 25-ranked Sooners are undefeated this year and will return to the floor on Sunday, Nov. 19, at Virginia.