Oklahoma hires Drake HC Jennie Baranczyk | The Boneyard

Oklahoma hires Drake HC Jennie Baranczyk

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Good hire for OU....very proven track record at mid major level. Would love to see her find some traction at Oklahoma and have the Big 12 become a more competitive conference with Texas/OU making strides.
 
Not sure what to think of this hire. Drake was 18-12 on the season and lost in the first round of the WNIT 48-84 to Milwaukee; I guess they played a couple of consolation games after that and their season ended March 22 (almost 3 weeks ago).

I mean, if you are a P5 conference school and gonna hire a head coach from a non-P5 conference, I would think there are a lot out there who had better post-season success. I guess they would have made the NCAA tourney one year ago, and did get invited two seasons ago losing in the first round.

OU was paying Sherri $1.33 million a year. Guessing they'll pay their new hire half that. Seems very similar to how Miss. State was willing to pay Vic about $1.5 million and then hired Nikki from ODU for a lot less.
 
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The biggest Nikki hater on the Mississippi State board wanted Jennie for 2022.

Can't believe two of our top candidates Johnnie and Baranczyk is the first 2 off the board. Gotta play a new tune now.
 
southie said:
Not sure what to think of this hire. Drake was 18-12 on the season and lost in the first round of the WNIT 48-84 to Milwaukee; I guess they played a couple of consolation games after that and their season ended March 22 (almost 3 weeks ago).

I mean, if you are a P5 conference school and gonna hire a head coach from a non-P5 conference, I would think there are a lot out there who had better post-season success. I guess they would have made the NCAA tourney one year ago, and did get invited to seasons ago losing in the first round.

OU was paying Sherri $1.33 million a year. Guessing they'll pay their new hire half that. Seems very similar to how Miss. State was willing to pay Vic about $1.5 million and then hired Nikke from ODU for a lot less.
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I think you need to evaluate her resume based on her sustained success over multiple seasons.

Regarding post-season showings in recent seasons, I see things more favorably than you give her credit for. The Missouri Valley Conference tourney was a tshow this year with Missouri St opting out of the tournament, teams getting reseeded last minute due to COVID-related forfeits, and both Drake and Bradley playing the finals of that tournament with limited rosters due to injuries and contact tracing. Drake had essentially no chance to earn an at large NCAA tourney this year bid because of limited non-conference games. Can't really hold that against them.

And in the 2018-2019 season, Drake was a top-25 team for much of the season. They received an NCAA tourney 10-seed and were matched up against 7-seed Missouri. Most people agreed that both these teams deserved higher seeds but were seeded lower because of geography. The committee wanted to send them to Iowa City where 2-seed Iowa was hosting the first two rounds. So Drake, deserving of probably an 8- or 9-seed, ended up playing Missouri who was probably deserving of a 5- or 6-seed.
 
For the 3 years 2016-19, Drake went 53-1 in a tough MVC! That is impressive. Averaged 27 wins per game during that stretch. Down trending the last 2 years, but that might've just been a hiccup.
 
I began following Drake in 2014. I liked the style of basketball Baranczyk coached. Good teamwork and a well-planned offense that suited her players. Liked her sense of humor about the game. I don't know whether the struggles of this years team were due to recruiting problems or just a down year.

I hope she does well at OU.
 
Echo the sentiment that this is a solid hire. I like it for a few other reasons:
  • As pointed out, she does a good job of constructing offenses that fit her players. When I've seen them play, that means getting them open looks where they can set their feet.
  • Given her initial comfort zone in the heart of the Midwest, I suspect that we'll see more of those type of players initially. However, now that she's going to a P5 school, perhaps she can add a star to the types of talent she can draw.
  • This can, in turn, buy some time while she ramps up contacts in Oklahoma, Texas, etc.


BTW, losing to Milwaukee is not a failure: they beat Marquette earler in the year and that team has been competing in the Horizon league early and often.

I also thought Vandy would be a good hire (although I thought Langley was an even better match...timing is everything, right?). Need to rethink that one....
 
OU is getting a great coach. I live in Des Moines and have been to a number of their games. The teams are always fun to watch: uptempo offense with great ball movement. She's high character, positive, very active in the community, and the women love to play for her. We were hoping she'd take over at Iowa when Lisa Bluder retires. Drake has primarily been limited by the absence of a strong presence in the post. This past year was down a bit primarily due to personnel. With the assumption she'll be able to recruit higher quality players to Oklahoma, they'll be in contention in the Big 12 soon.
 
Nice hire.
Ultimately, I think the issue with P5 hiring deals with projecting a coach's ability to recruit to the school at a P5 level. You really can't predict since the recruit pool is really different from mid-major level. Having some time as an assistant at a strong national program helps as the experience of evaluating and recruiting that top 25 recruiting pool gives some exposure.

And not every P5 school actually really supports WCBB - there are some programs that remain dreadful and pretty much always have been. Those are the jobs that are fatal for a young coach to accept!

Sherri had early success when she was hired, first with Stacey Dales and then with the Paris sisters, her recruiting seemed to plateau and then slide. Part of that was stronger competition within the B12 as other schools took WCBB more seriously.

The Holly's and Aston's of the world are pretty rare - capable of very good recruiting and less capable of coaching their recruits.
 
I'm assuming Oklahoma is hoping Baranczyk can follow the success of UNC's Banghardt on the recruiting trail. Banghardt, in her first two seasons, has proven she can absolutely recruit at a P5 level--which was perhaps the only unknown for her coming out of Princeton.
 
Coach B has announced her first two AC hires - the Norman (OK) HS girls BB coach, Michael Neal, and Chantel Osahor from Arkansas (and who was a grad assistant at Drake under Baranczyk.) I hope she has a more experienced hire up her sleeve for the other AC position.
 
dws3665 said:
Coach B has announced her first two AC hires - the Norman (OK) HS girls BB coach, Michael Neal, and Chantel Osahor from Arkansas (and who was a grad assistant at Drake under Baranczyk.) I hope she has a more experienced hire up her sleeve for the other AC position.
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Hold it.....Chantel Osahor who made the Washington Huskies -- along with Kelsey Plum, of course -- must-watch TV for a spell? Whoa, I had no idea she was even in the coaching game. I see most of the other Drake assistant coaches have stayed put in Des Moines, either by their own choice or Coach B's. Still, good luck to Chantel. I'm sure the next step is to hire a more experienced AC.
 
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