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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Baranczyk Named Semifinalist for National Coach of the Year
March 14, 2024 | Women's Basketball
NORMAN – University of Oklahoma head women's basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Werner Ladder Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year award on Thursday.
Piloting one of the nation's top turnarounds, Baranczyk, named the Big 12's Coach of the Year earlier this month, delivered Oklahoma its second consecutive regular season Big 12 championship after compiling a 15-3 conference record featuring a sweep over runner-up Texas. The third-year Oklahoma head coach replaced four starters from last season's championship-winning team and, after starting 6-5, won 15 of its next 17 games to jump back into the AP Top 25 and win the league's crown. The Sooners will enter March Madness with a 22-9 record, boasted by a resume that features that third-best winning percentage nationally vs. NET Top 25 teams.
Baranczyk and her staff produced the Big 12 Co-Player of the Year in Skylar Vann, and the league's Newcomer of the Year, Payton Verhulst. The pair were named to the All-Big 12 First Team, with Vann earning a unanimous selection. Vann was Oklahoma's first Big 12 Player of the Year since Courtney Paris in 2009. Additionally, starting point guard Nevaeh Tot and true freshman Sahara Williams earned All-Big 12 honorable mentions after helping OU to the title.
The Sooner head coach was a finalist for WBCA National Coach of the Year in each of the last two seasons, but her inclusion in the 2024 Naismith Semifinalist list is her second since arriving at Oklahoma as she was a semifinalist in 2022.
Baranczyk joins Texas coach Vic Schaefer as the Big 12's only semifinalists. Joining those two on the list are Lisa Bluder (Iowa), Kenny Brooks (Virginia Tech), Lisa Fortier (Gonzaga), Lindsay Gottlieb (USC), Felisha Legette-Jack (Syracuse), Kevin McGuff (Ohio State), Dawn Staley (South Carolina) and Tara VanDerveer (Stanford).
The four finalists will be announced on March 25. Once again, fans will have a say in determining the winner of the coveted award this year. Starting March 26, fans can visit www.naismithfanvote.com or on Twitter (@MarchMadnessWBB) and (@naismithtrophy) to cast their ballot for one of the four Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy and Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year finalists. Voting ends at 5 p.m. EDT on April 2, and fans are limited to one daily vote. The fan vote will account for 5% of the total vote.
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