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‘She does what great leaders do’: How OU coach Jennie Baranczyk’s bonds with players, fans exceeds expectations
Louis Raser, sports reporter Mar 29, 2023 Updated 8 hrs ago
As Oklahoma fans and players headed for the exits and prepared for a five-hour ride home from College Station, an unfamiliar face caught Joe Castiglione’s attention.
The No. 12-seeded Sooners had witnessed their 2018 campaign end with a 90-79 loss to DePaul in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Castiglione glanced at the other side of the bracket, where No. 4-Texas A&M was taking on No. 13 Drake.
“It caught my eye,” Castiglione told OU Daily. “Drake hadn’t necessarily been a household name.”
That was an understatement.
Though the Bulldogs made the tournament the previous year, they’d missed the cut 13 of the past 14 seasons. Intrigued by his unfamiliarity with the program, Castiglione stayed after OU’s 11 a.m. loss to watch Drake go toe-to-toe with the Aggies.
“I made a mental note, not that I was planning on a (coaching) search by any means, but I was very impressed by the way they played,” Castiglione said. “They really competed with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. (And) it was a tall order. There’s a reason why a program like A&M was hosting; they’re really, really good. (Drake) really battled that game. So I remember being very impressed (with) the program and how they were emerging on the scene.”
The Bulldogs’ coach was then 36-year-old Jennie Baranczyk, who was in her sixth season with Drake.
When longtime Sooners coach Sherri Coale announced her retirement three years later, Castiglione began formulating his list of candidates to fill the vacancy. He quickly remembered the team that impressed him in 2018. After a lengthy interview process, Castiglione landed on Baranczyk as Coale’s successor.
“We really found the perfect fit for our program,” Castiglione said.
Through two seasons, Baranczyk’s consistent crowd engagement and explosive offenses have reignited enthusiasm for the program with NCAA Tournament appearances in her first two seasons, the most recent of which ended March 20 with OU’s 82-73 loss to UCLA in the second round. As she enters a challenging third season, the bonds she generates with players provide OU with a chance to restore its legacy in the college basketball world.
“If I ever wanted a coach at Drake to represent the whole department or university, she was the first that I would go to,” said former Drake Athletic Director Sandy Clubb, who hired Baranczyk in 2012. “She’s just so well rounded and well centered. If we needed to raise money for soccer, she would be the first one to raise her hand: ‘what can I do to help?’
“If the men's tennis team is going off to the NCAAs, she'd go over there to give them a pep talk. … She can raise money, she can generate relationships well beyond the basketball program … and she can relate to people like very few coaches can.”
After boasting a 16-14 record in 2018, Coale’s OU squad snuck into the NCAA Tournament with the last at-large bid. A 5-8 nonconference record and a first-round exit in the Big 12 Tournament led many to believe OU wasn’t deserving of its bid.
The early exit marked a transitional period for the program, as OU lost the bulk of its roster. The next season, its seven leading scorers consisted of all freshmen and sophomores. While inexperience prevailed, winning did not.
OU saw its worst win total in over 20 years with an 8-22 record. The losses continued over the next few years. OU’s status as a distinguished program which reached the NCAA Tournament 19 consecutive times before 2019, including three Final Four appearances during that time, began to fade.
Enter Baranczyk.
In two seasons helming the Sooners, she’s led them to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and returned a Big 12 title to Norman.
And she’s just getting started.
“The role of a great leader is to help develop more leaders,” Castiglione said. “That's what she's done so exceptionally well, and that's … one of the reasons why our players have worked so hard to continue to elevate the program.”
‘A community builder’
While strolling through a cornfield in Dyersville, Iowa, Kevin Costner, who plays Ray Kinsella in the 1989 film "Field of Dreams," hears a voice whisper to him: “If you build it, he will come.”
The quote resonates with Baranczyk for more reasons than her home ties. She believes it correlates to building a strong fanbase in women’s college basketball.
When she arrived at OU, Baranczyk inherited a program that had seen a decline in attendance every year since 2012. The Sooner faithful, which once packed the Lloyd Noble Center on a nightly basis, appeared to have faded away along with the era of the Paris twins and deep tournament runs.
Reestablishing the once-hostile atmosphere of the Lloyd Noble Center was a priority and an aspect Baranczyk excelled in.
“There were a set of questions that were part of our interview process that were developed to try to determine (passion for fan engagement),” Castiglione said. “One of the characteristics (she possessed) is building a connection. She wants strong women to be proud of her program and wants them to feel like they have a stake in (its) ultimate success, which they obviously do.
“And she wants the fans to feel something similar, (where) they can get to know the great players on our team, get to know who they are, (get) to hear their voice, what they're interested in outside of basketball, ways that they can support them. She's very much a community builder.”
One of the ways Baranczyk looks to build the community around OU is by implementing her “three-minute drill.” After walking through the postgame handshake line, Baranczyk sends her players into the stands for three minutes — though it often stretches to be longer — where they sign autographs, take pictures, and thank fans for their support.
“She doesn’t just care about it, she does stuff about it,” Clubb said. “She didn't just come in and say, ‘I need marketing to do better,’ … She would say, ‘where do you want me to be?’ or, ‘where do you need me to speak?’”
The engagement Baranczyk facilitates between players and fans is supplemented by the product she puts on the court. All teams Baranczyk coaches share a distinct similarity: high-powered offenses.
Drake averaged 59.2 points per game the year before Baranczyk’s arrival, ranking ninth in the 10-team Missouri Valley Conference. By her third season, the Bulldogs raised their mark to 76.2 points per game, leading the MVC and ranking No. 14 nationally. Drake finished atop its conference and top 10 nationally in offense each of her next five seasons.
A similar outcome occurred when Baranczyk transitioned to OU. The Sooners had the No. 42 offense nationally the year before her arrival, then jumped to No. 3 in her first season.
“She’d much rather have somebody throw the ball over (another player’s) head as a mistake, going for a big play, than she would somebody hold the ball and not make a pass,” Clubb said. “She empowers the athletes to be courageous. And it's fun to watch.”
Not only do the potent offenses spark a win column surge, but a revitalized crowd follows.
Under Baranczyk in 2015, Drake ranked 45th nationally in average home attendance. Its arena, the Knapp Center, held barely over 7,000 fans, making it smaller than nearly all 65 Power Five arenas. Additionally, the Missouri Valley Conference ranked eighth in average attendance.
Fast forward to this season, when OU ranked second nationally in points per game, with Baranczyk continuing to send her players into the crowd after every home game.
The result? OU’s average attendance increased from the previous season for the first time in over a decade. In its 67-45 loss to Texas on Feb. 25, 10,127 fans packed Lloyd Noble, the highest mark it's seen since 2013. Though many exited before the final buzzer, Baranczyk is motivated to bring them back as the new standard of women’s basketball in Oklahoma.
“The (fans) are part of this team and this program,” Baranczyk said after the game. “And I'm just sorry we didn't play better. I’m sorry we didn't … (give them) much excitement. Because most of the time when people are here watching us they're on their feet and they're excited and they have a great time.
"We're going to do whatever we can to get them back and … make them proud.”
‘She competes more than anybody else’
The intensity Baranczyk brings to the table sets her apart from the average coach.
It’s one of the qualities former Colorado coach Linda Lappe, who hired Baranczyk as an assistant before the 2011 season, admired most about the young assistant.
In her first season helming the Buffaloes, Lappe recalls frustrations with her team’s competitiveness and comradery amid a midseason losing streak. Lappe consulted her assistants, including recently-hired Baranczyk, who suggested a lead-by-example approach to light a fire in Lappe’s struggling squad.
Baranczyk suggested the coaching staff compete against their players, which Lappe decided to employ in practice. While participating in practice, Baranczyk saw a loose ball roll past a few players, inching toward the out-of-bounds line. Baranczyk extended her arms and dove for the ball, landing well out of play and skidding her ankle against the wooden floor in the process.
“That’s just who she is,” Lappe said. “We weren’t even playing anything out-of-bounds.”
Her intensity carried over to her career as a head coach. Before Drake’s 2017 NCAA Tournament game against Kansas State, Baranczyk participated in her team’s practice while pregnant with her daughter, Hope, the youngest of her three children.
While addressing the media after a recent OU practice, Baranczyk was asked her reasoning for such active participation. Before she had a chance to respond, sixth-year senior Ana Llanusa interrupted.
“(No one) else is going to make us work as hard as she does,” Llanusa said. “When she steps on (the court), we have to work 10 times harder because she competes more than anybody else out there. (She’s) really competitive, (and) she’s a trash talker.”
Baranczyk displayed her friendly banter with players before OU’s recent 77-76 defeat of TCU in the first round of the Big 12 Championship. Baranczyk helped prepare her star forward Madi Williams, who suffered a leg injury the week before, by flashing back to her early-2000s stint as a three-time All-Big Ten Conference selection at Iowa.
According to Baranczyk, the outcome of the two facing each other further exposed Williams’ unusual timidness as a result of the injury and likely bolstered Baranczyk’s confidence in her playing ability.
“She was really hesitant. I mean heck, I crossed her up,” Baranczyk said. “If she were here she would really appreciate me saying that.”
The event is just one instance of Baranczyk’s active participation in practice. By consistently drilling alongside her players, Baranczyk can better see their perspectives, an aspect she believes is crucial come game time.
“In our timeouts, for example, we want it to be a conversation,” Baranczyk said. “Because sometimes what I see isn’t what they're feeling, but sometimes what they feel isn’t what we're seeing. So the reality of it lies in the middle … and I like to jump in just to be able to feel (what they’re feeling).”
‘She wants to empower them’
As the buzzer sounded in OU’s 82-73 loss to UCLA in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, reality set in.
The 18-point comeback fell short. The 26-win season ended. And most notably, an era came to a close.
Seniors Taylor Robertson, Madi Williams and Ana Llanusa, who’d headlined the program in their five years together, played their final minutes in the crimson and cream during the loss. The departure of OU’s No. 2, No. 3 and No. 10 all-time leading scorers leaves its future with a sense of uncertainty.
“I don't know if I can put into words what they’ve done (for the program),” Baranczyk said. “Sherri laid this foundation of wanting this program to be better tomorrow than it is today, and that's the same vision that I have … (and) the same vision that they have.
“The legacy they’ve left is to love what you do, love how you do it and who you do it with, because it's the strongest human emotion that we have. And they love deep.”
Fortunately for the Sooners, Baranczyk planned ahead.
During this year’s Big 12 Media Day, Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer and analyst Andrea Lloyd described Baranczyk as a “unicorn when it comes to the transfer portal.”
Baranczyk flexed her unique recruiting skills last offseason, when she used her Iowa ties to reel in junior Aubrey Joens from conference-rival Iowa State, where her sister, Ashley, was a four-time unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection. Joens played double-digit minutes in all but one game this season, averaging 6.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and delivering a team-high 14 points in OU’s 85-63 victory over Portland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
In Coale’s last season with the Sooners, she frequently had to deploy six-player rotations from OU’s injury depleted lineup. Baranczyk felt the need for change and brought in an abundance of depth. OU’s rotation in 2023 saw nine, 10 or even 11 players earn minutes in a typical game, an uncanny mark in modern-day college basketball.
OU was the only Big 12 team with none of its players averaging over 30 minutes per game. Its leader in playing time, Neveah Tot, ranked just 29th in the conference with 27.8 minutes per night.
“Jennie has a great presence. … She’s a person you want to be around,” Lappe said. “The players can feel that, and they want to be around her too. She wasn’t easy on them. … She held them to a high standard, but did it in a way that they all wanted to run through a wall for her.”
Baranczyk recently landed guard Sahara Williams, a fellow Iowan, and a five-star recruit ranked No. 23 overall (in the class of 2023). Additionally, former No. 12 recruit per ESPN, sophomore guard Payton Verhulst joined Baranczyk’s squad midway through the season after a stint at Louisville. Verhulst and Williams are two of nine Sooners ever honored as McDonald’s All-Americans, and the first OU has landed since Madi Williams.
Aside from bringing talent to Norman, the relationships Baranczyk garners with players were one of the first indicators to Castiglione that hiring her was the right decision. Before ever publicizing a hire, Castiglione introduces potential new coaches to the players. When he did so with Baranczyk, the initial introduction was telling of what the future of OU basketball would look like.
“From that moment, I could tell that it was first going to be about the qualities and relationships amongst the team,” Castiglione said. “She wants to empower them. … She (seeks) their input so she understands the true strength of each of the players individually, as well as what they felt like their collective strengths (are).
“She wants it to be their program. She's their head coach, and she's there to teach, guide, mentor, encourage, support and hold people accountable. But she still wants the players to embrace their role of leading the program as well. … She does what great leaders do.”
Louis Raser, sports reporter Mar 29, 2023 Updated 8 hrs ago
As Oklahoma fans and players headed for the exits and prepared for a five-hour ride home from College Station, an unfamiliar face caught Joe Castiglione’s attention.
The No. 12-seeded Sooners had witnessed their 2018 campaign end with a 90-79 loss to DePaul in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Castiglione glanced at the other side of the bracket, where No. 4-Texas A&M was taking on No. 13 Drake.
“It caught my eye,” Castiglione told OU Daily. “Drake hadn’t necessarily been a household name.”
That was an understatement.
Though the Bulldogs made the tournament the previous year, they’d missed the cut 13 of the past 14 seasons. Intrigued by his unfamiliarity with the program, Castiglione stayed after OU’s 11 a.m. loss to watch Drake go toe-to-toe with the Aggies.
“I made a mental note, not that I was planning on a (coaching) search by any means, but I was very impressed by the way they played,” Castiglione said. “They really competed with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. (And) it was a tall order. There’s a reason why a program like A&M was hosting; they’re really, really good. (Drake) really battled that game. So I remember being very impressed (with) the program and how they were emerging on the scene.”
The Bulldogs’ coach was then 36-year-old Jennie Baranczyk, who was in her sixth season with Drake.
When longtime Sooners coach Sherri Coale announced her retirement three years later, Castiglione began formulating his list of candidates to fill the vacancy. He quickly remembered the team that impressed him in 2018. After a lengthy interview process, Castiglione landed on Baranczyk as Coale’s successor.
“We really found the perfect fit for our program,” Castiglione said.
Through two seasons, Baranczyk’s consistent crowd engagement and explosive offenses have reignited enthusiasm for the program with NCAA Tournament appearances in her first two seasons, the most recent of which ended March 20 with OU’s 82-73 loss to UCLA in the second round. As she enters a challenging third season, the bonds she generates with players provide OU with a chance to restore its legacy in the college basketball world.
“If I ever wanted a coach at Drake to represent the whole department or university, she was the first that I would go to,” said former Drake Athletic Director Sandy Clubb, who hired Baranczyk in 2012. “She’s just so well rounded and well centered. If we needed to raise money for soccer, she would be the first one to raise her hand: ‘what can I do to help?’
“If the men's tennis team is going off to the NCAAs, she'd go over there to give them a pep talk. … She can raise money, she can generate relationships well beyond the basketball program … and she can relate to people like very few coaches can.”
After boasting a 16-14 record in 2018, Coale’s OU squad snuck into the NCAA Tournament with the last at-large bid. A 5-8 nonconference record and a first-round exit in the Big 12 Tournament led many to believe OU wasn’t deserving of its bid.
The early exit marked a transitional period for the program, as OU lost the bulk of its roster. The next season, its seven leading scorers consisted of all freshmen and sophomores. While inexperience prevailed, winning did not.
OU saw its worst win total in over 20 years with an 8-22 record. The losses continued over the next few years. OU’s status as a distinguished program which reached the NCAA Tournament 19 consecutive times before 2019, including three Final Four appearances during that time, began to fade.
Enter Baranczyk.
In two seasons helming the Sooners, she’s led them to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and returned a Big 12 title to Norman.
And she’s just getting started.
“The role of a great leader is to help develop more leaders,” Castiglione said. “That's what she's done so exceptionally well, and that's … one of the reasons why our players have worked so hard to continue to elevate the program.”
‘A community builder’
While strolling through a cornfield in Dyersville, Iowa, Kevin Costner, who plays Ray Kinsella in the 1989 film "Field of Dreams," hears a voice whisper to him: “If you build it, he will come.”
The quote resonates with Baranczyk for more reasons than her home ties. She believes it correlates to building a strong fanbase in women’s college basketball.
When she arrived at OU, Baranczyk inherited a program that had seen a decline in attendance every year since 2012. The Sooner faithful, which once packed the Lloyd Noble Center on a nightly basis, appeared to have faded away along with the era of the Paris twins and deep tournament runs.
Reestablishing the once-hostile atmosphere of the Lloyd Noble Center was a priority and an aspect Baranczyk excelled in.
“There were a set of questions that were part of our interview process that were developed to try to determine (passion for fan engagement),” Castiglione said. “One of the characteristics (she possessed) is building a connection. She wants strong women to be proud of her program and wants them to feel like they have a stake in (its) ultimate success, which they obviously do.
“And she wants the fans to feel something similar, (where) they can get to know the great players on our team, get to know who they are, (get) to hear their voice, what they're interested in outside of basketball, ways that they can support them. She's very much a community builder.”
One of the ways Baranczyk looks to build the community around OU is by implementing her “three-minute drill.” After walking through the postgame handshake line, Baranczyk sends her players into the stands for three minutes — though it often stretches to be longer — where they sign autographs, take pictures, and thank fans for their support.
“She doesn’t just care about it, she does stuff about it,” Clubb said. “She didn't just come in and say, ‘I need marketing to do better,’ … She would say, ‘where do you want me to be?’ or, ‘where do you need me to speak?’”
The engagement Baranczyk facilitates between players and fans is supplemented by the product she puts on the court. All teams Baranczyk coaches share a distinct similarity: high-powered offenses.
Drake averaged 59.2 points per game the year before Baranczyk’s arrival, ranking ninth in the 10-team Missouri Valley Conference. By her third season, the Bulldogs raised their mark to 76.2 points per game, leading the MVC and ranking No. 14 nationally. Drake finished atop its conference and top 10 nationally in offense each of her next five seasons.
A similar outcome occurred when Baranczyk transitioned to OU. The Sooners had the No. 42 offense nationally the year before her arrival, then jumped to No. 3 in her first season.
“She’d much rather have somebody throw the ball over (another player’s) head as a mistake, going for a big play, than she would somebody hold the ball and not make a pass,” Clubb said. “She empowers the athletes to be courageous. And it's fun to watch.”
Not only do the potent offenses spark a win column surge, but a revitalized crowd follows.
Under Baranczyk in 2015, Drake ranked 45th nationally in average home attendance. Its arena, the Knapp Center, held barely over 7,000 fans, making it smaller than nearly all 65 Power Five arenas. Additionally, the Missouri Valley Conference ranked eighth in average attendance.
Fast forward to this season, when OU ranked second nationally in points per game, with Baranczyk continuing to send her players into the crowd after every home game.
The result? OU’s average attendance increased from the previous season for the first time in over a decade. In its 67-45 loss to Texas on Feb. 25, 10,127 fans packed Lloyd Noble, the highest mark it's seen since 2013. Though many exited before the final buzzer, Baranczyk is motivated to bring them back as the new standard of women’s basketball in Oklahoma.
“The (fans) are part of this team and this program,” Baranczyk said after the game. “And I'm just sorry we didn't play better. I’m sorry we didn't … (give them) much excitement. Because most of the time when people are here watching us they're on their feet and they're excited and they have a great time.
"We're going to do whatever we can to get them back and … make them proud.”
‘She competes more than anybody else’
The intensity Baranczyk brings to the table sets her apart from the average coach.
It’s one of the qualities former Colorado coach Linda Lappe, who hired Baranczyk as an assistant before the 2011 season, admired most about the young assistant.
In her first season helming the Buffaloes, Lappe recalls frustrations with her team’s competitiveness and comradery amid a midseason losing streak. Lappe consulted her assistants, including recently-hired Baranczyk, who suggested a lead-by-example approach to light a fire in Lappe’s struggling squad.
Baranczyk suggested the coaching staff compete against their players, which Lappe decided to employ in practice. While participating in practice, Baranczyk saw a loose ball roll past a few players, inching toward the out-of-bounds line. Baranczyk extended her arms and dove for the ball, landing well out of play and skidding her ankle against the wooden floor in the process.
“That’s just who she is,” Lappe said. “We weren’t even playing anything out-of-bounds.”
Her intensity carried over to her career as a head coach. Before Drake’s 2017 NCAA Tournament game against Kansas State, Baranczyk participated in her team’s practice while pregnant with her daughter, Hope, the youngest of her three children.
While addressing the media after a recent OU practice, Baranczyk was asked her reasoning for such active participation. Before she had a chance to respond, sixth-year senior Ana Llanusa interrupted.
“(No one) else is going to make us work as hard as she does,” Llanusa said. “When she steps on (the court), we have to work 10 times harder because she competes more than anybody else out there. (She’s) really competitive, (and) she’s a trash talker.”
Baranczyk displayed her friendly banter with players before OU’s recent 77-76 defeat of TCU in the first round of the Big 12 Championship. Baranczyk helped prepare her star forward Madi Williams, who suffered a leg injury the week before, by flashing back to her early-2000s stint as a three-time All-Big Ten Conference selection at Iowa.
According to Baranczyk, the outcome of the two facing each other further exposed Williams’ unusual timidness as a result of the injury and likely bolstered Baranczyk’s confidence in her playing ability.
“She was really hesitant. I mean heck, I crossed her up,” Baranczyk said. “If she were here she would really appreciate me saying that.”
The event is just one instance of Baranczyk’s active participation in practice. By consistently drilling alongside her players, Baranczyk can better see their perspectives, an aspect she believes is crucial come game time.
“In our timeouts, for example, we want it to be a conversation,” Baranczyk said. “Because sometimes what I see isn’t what they're feeling, but sometimes what they feel isn’t what we're seeing. So the reality of it lies in the middle … and I like to jump in just to be able to feel (what they’re feeling).”
‘She wants to empower them’
As the buzzer sounded in OU’s 82-73 loss to UCLA in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, reality set in.
The 18-point comeback fell short. The 26-win season ended. And most notably, an era came to a close.
Seniors Taylor Robertson, Madi Williams and Ana Llanusa, who’d headlined the program in their five years together, played their final minutes in the crimson and cream during the loss. The departure of OU’s No. 2, No. 3 and No. 10 all-time leading scorers leaves its future with a sense of uncertainty.
“I don't know if I can put into words what they’ve done (for the program),” Baranczyk said. “Sherri laid this foundation of wanting this program to be better tomorrow than it is today, and that's the same vision that I have … (and) the same vision that they have.
“The legacy they’ve left is to love what you do, love how you do it and who you do it with, because it's the strongest human emotion that we have. And they love deep.”
Fortunately for the Sooners, Baranczyk planned ahead.
During this year’s Big 12 Media Day, Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer and analyst Andrea Lloyd described Baranczyk as a “unicorn when it comes to the transfer portal.”
Baranczyk flexed her unique recruiting skills last offseason, when she used her Iowa ties to reel in junior Aubrey Joens from conference-rival Iowa State, where her sister, Ashley, was a four-time unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection. Joens played double-digit minutes in all but one game this season, averaging 6.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and delivering a team-high 14 points in OU’s 85-63 victory over Portland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
In Coale’s last season with the Sooners, she frequently had to deploy six-player rotations from OU’s injury depleted lineup. Baranczyk felt the need for change and brought in an abundance of depth. OU’s rotation in 2023 saw nine, 10 or even 11 players earn minutes in a typical game, an uncanny mark in modern-day college basketball.
OU was the only Big 12 team with none of its players averaging over 30 minutes per game. Its leader in playing time, Neveah Tot, ranked just 29th in the conference with 27.8 minutes per night.
“Jennie has a great presence. … She’s a person you want to be around,” Lappe said. “The players can feel that, and they want to be around her too. She wasn’t easy on them. … She held them to a high standard, but did it in a way that they all wanted to run through a wall for her.”
Baranczyk recently landed guard Sahara Williams, a fellow Iowan, and a five-star recruit ranked No. 23 overall (in the class of 2023). Additionally, former No. 12 recruit per ESPN, sophomore guard Payton Verhulst joined Baranczyk’s squad midway through the season after a stint at Louisville. Verhulst and Williams are two of nine Sooners ever honored as McDonald’s All-Americans, and the first OU has landed since Madi Williams.
Aside from bringing talent to Norman, the relationships Baranczyk garners with players were one of the first indicators to Castiglione that hiring her was the right decision. Before ever publicizing a hire, Castiglione introduces potential new coaches to the players. When he did so with Baranczyk, the initial introduction was telling of what the future of OU basketball would look like.
“From that moment, I could tell that it was first going to be about the qualities and relationships amongst the team,” Castiglione said. “She wants to empower them. … She (seeks) their input so she understands the true strength of each of the players individually, as well as what they felt like their collective strengths (are).
“She wants it to be their program. She's their head coach, and she's there to teach, guide, mentor, encourage, support and hold people accountable. But she still wants the players to embrace their role of leading the program as well. … She does what great leaders do.”
