The Oklahoma Sooners make the top 3 for 2025 four-star prospect out of Norman.
The Oklahoma Sooners got off to a great start to the 2024-2025 season with a 76-44 win over Southern on Monday night. On Tuesday, they received some good news, as Norman High basketball star Keeley Parks dropped the top three schools in her recruitment, including the Oklahoma Sooners.
Parks is ranked as the No. 17 prospect in the nation according to 247Sports. She’s a 5-foot-11 shooting guard that was the Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year for 2023-2024. Last season, she compiled per game averages of 26.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5.6 steals per game.
Parks has been impressive over the last three years, but her performance at the Select Events Summer Classic provided a true glimpse into what she can achieve in college. She played key roles both on and off the basketball in the wing position. For most programs, Parks would project as an off-guard who can help handle the basketball in pressure situations and remain composed. She shoots well from the outside and is in excellent physical condition. Parks will continue to develop at the college level as her frame fills out in the weight room. – Brandon Clay, Director of Scouting, Women’s Basketball, 247Sports
The Sooners are battling with Kansas and Oklahoma State to keep Parks in town.
The Sooners will have a lot of turnover on the roster after this season, with guards Payton Verhulst, Lexy Keys, and Niveah Tot set to graduate after the season. There’s a chance Parks could come in and compete for playing time like Sahara Williams did in 2023-2024 as a true freshman.
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Where did Oklahoma Women’s Basketball land in the Preseason Women’s Basketball Coaches Poll?
It’s a new era for Oklahoma Women’s Basketball as the Sooners prepare to take on the challenge of the SEC. Coming off their third straight NCAA tournament appearance, [autotag]Jennie Baranczyk[/autotag] enters a conference featuring the last three national champions; South Carolina (2022 and 2024) and LSU (2023).
But the Sooners have a good and experienced roster to wade into the waters of the historically strong SEC women’s basketball league. A conference with elite teams and historic blue bloods. Can the Sooners take the next step to join the sport’s elite?
Defending national champion South Carolina comes in at No. 1, earning 27 of a possible 31 votes after their undefeated 2023-2024 season. They’re followed by UConn, USC, Texas, and Notre Dame to round out the top five.
UConn was knocked off by Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the final four. Juju Watkins and USC won the Pac-12 tournament last year before getting beat by UConn in the Elite 8. They’re the team to beat in the expanded Big Ten. Texas won the Big 12 tournament title after falling short of Oklahoma in the regular season title race.
The Sooners are the fourth-highest-ranked SEC team in the poll. Seven SEC teams were included in the top 25.
Led by returning Big 12 Player of the Year [autotag]Skylar Vann[/autotag] and one of the top players in the transfer portal [autotag]Raegan Beers[/autotag], the Sooners are set to make another tournament appearance in 2024-2025. But the question the Sooners are facing is if they can make it to the Sweet 16 for the first time in Baranczyk’s tenure and the first time since 2013.
2024-25 Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
Rank
School (Last Year’s Record)
Points
First Place Votes
1
South Carolina (38-0)
770
27
2
Connecticut (33-6)
734
3
3
Southern California (29-6)
716
1
4
Texas (33-5)
670
–
5
Notre Dame (28-7)
629
–
6
UCLA (27-7)
612
–
7
LSU (31-6)
567
–
8
North Carolina State (31-7)
533
–
9
Iowa State (21-12)
487
–
10
Oklahoma (23-10)
457
–
11
Duke (22-12)
449
–
12
Baylor (26-8)
434
–
13
Kansas State (26-8)
407
–
14
Ohio State (26-6)
405
–
15
West Virginia (25-8)
285
–
16
North Carolina (20-13)
263
–
17
Louisville (24-10)
261
–
18
Maryland (19-14)
254
–
19
Florida State (23-11)
177
–
20
Creighton (26-6)
150
–
21
Mississippi (24-9)
135
–
22
Kentucky (12-20)
106
–
23
Nebraska (23-12)
92
–
24
Indiana (26-6)
75
–
25
Alabama (24-10)
57
–
Others Receiving Votes
Gonzaga 49; TCU 37; Tennessee 32; Stanford 32; Iowa 28; Utah 25; South Dakota State 22; Oregon State 21; Princeton 18; Colorado 15; Virginia Tech 10; Illinois 9; Middle Tennessee 8; Fairfield 7; Richmond 6; California 6; Auburn 5; UNLV 4; Miami (FL) 4; FGCU 4; South Florida 3; George Mason 2; Saint Joseph’s 1; Michigan 1; Cleveland State 1;
List Of Voters
The USA TODAY Sports Board of Coaches is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. The board for the 2024-25 season: Ashleen Bracey, Illinois-Chicago; Jen Brown, Queens University; Dan Burt, Duquesne; Fred Chmiel, Bowling Green; Janell Crayton Del Rosario, Bethune-Cookman; Denise Dillon, Villanova; Carrie Eighmey, South Dakota; Dalila Eshe, Yale; Heather Ezell, Wyoming; Bill Fennelly, Iowa State; Cindy Fisher, San Diego; Aqua Franklin, Lamar; Ty Grace, Howard; Hana Haden, Georgia Southern; Johnnie Harris, Auburn; Brian Holsinger, Montana; Rick Insell, Middle Tennessee; Renee Jimenez, UC Santa Barbara; Chris Kielsmeier, Cleveland State; Mike Lane, NJIT; Amy Mallon, Drexel; Mike McGuire, Radford; Kim McNeill, East Carolina; Lynn Milligan, Rider; Dan Nielson, Utah Valley; Shawn Poppie, Clemson; Samantha Quigley Smith, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville; Missy Traversi, Army; Jonathan Tsipis, Western Carolina; Way Veney, Central Connecticut State; Coquese Washington, Rutgers.
The Oklahoma Sooners are hosting the No. 1 player in the 2025 recruiting class, Aaliyah Chavez on an official visit.
Oklahoma Women’s Basketball and head coach [autotag]Jennie Baranczyk[/autotag] are hoping to build off of another tournament appearance in their first season in the mighty SEC. They landed one of the top players in the transfer portal in forward [autotag]Raegan Beers[/autotag], and are in the running for the No. 1 player in the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag], [autotag]Aaliyah Chavez[/autotag].
Chavez, who is in Norman for an official visit this weekend. According to On3, her current top schools are Texas and Texas Tech, but Oklahoma remains a possibility. Other schools in pursuit are defending national champion South Carolina and West Coast power UCLA.
Citing sources, On3’s Talia Goodman shared that NIL is likely to be a significant factor in Chavez’s recruitment. But you can never underestimate the power of a great recruiting visit.
Over the Summer, Chavez told On3 of the Oklahoma Sooners, “It’s not too far from home, and I love coach Jennie [Baranczyk]. She’s the head coach that I usually talk to. She’s very young, and I like how they just play basketball. They don’t try to force anything – no sets. They just go out there and play basketball.”
Chavez went on to say that she wanted to play for a place that allowed her to have high energy and for a coach that didn’t have “low energy.”
NEWS: No. 1 recruit Aaliyah Chavez is currently on an official visit to Oklahoma, sources told @On3sports.
The 2023-2024 Gatorade Girls basketball Player of the Year averaged 37.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 3.5 steals for Monterrey in Lubbock, Texas as a junior.
She’s a dynamic point guard who can facilitate the offense but also dominate the game with her ability to work to the basket as well as shoot from every area on the court.
Oklahoma will have to make a strong impression this weekend with Chavez to put them at the front of the recruiting race for the top player in the class. Baranzcyk and her staff have done a really good job on the recruiting trail and this is a huge weekend for the program to take another strong step toward being a national title contender.
Oklahoma Sooners Women’s Basketball picked to finish fourth in the mighty SEC.
The Oklahoma Sooners women’s basketball program is coming off of another strong season in year three under head coach Jennie Baranczyk. They made the NCAA tournament for the third straight season. They battled Indiana tight for 35 minutes before the Hoosiers pulled away late.
Still, it was another encouraging season for Baranczyk and the Sooners ahead of Oklahoma’s move to the SEC.
With their inaugural season in the SEC approaching, the media voted on their preseason rankings and the Oklahoma Sooners came in at No. 4. OU trails defending national champion South Carolina, the Texas Longhorns, and women’s hoops power LSU in the preseason rankings.
Behind Oklahoma are Ole Miss, Alabama, and then blue blood program Tennessee.
The Sooners have a ton of talent returning for the 2024-2025 season. They return 98% of their scoring production from last year’s Big 12 championship team. It was already an experienced roster, and Baranczyk picked up All-American forward Raegan Beers out of the transfer portal.
The Sooners have an opportunity to go into the SEC and make a statement against the deepest and most talented women’s basketball conference in the nation.
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The Oklahoma Sooners women’s basketball team made the top 6 for one of the best players in the 2025 recruiting class.
Coming off of their second-straight NCAA tournament appearance, Jennie Baranczyk and the Oklahoma Sooners find themselves in the middle of a big-time recruiting battle.
On Tuesday, the Sooners were included in the top six for point guard Aaliyah Chavez out of Lubbock, Texas. Chavez is considered the No. 1 player in the nation, according to On3.
The Sooners were included along with some of the heavy hitters in women’s college basketball like South Carolina, LSU, Texas, UCLA, and Texas Tech.
South Carolina, fresh off an undefeated season and their second title in three years will always be tough to beat in a recruiting battle with Dawn Staley at the helm. LSU won the national championship in the 2022-2023 season.
But Baranczyk and the Sooners have created a culture and established a style of play that’s caught the eye of prospects across the country.
“It’s not too far from home and I love coach Jennie [Baranczyk],” Chavez told On3. “She’s the head coach that I usually talk to. She’s very young, and I like how they just play basketball. They don’t try to force anything – no sets. They just go out there and play basketball.”
This won’t be an easy recruiting battle, but Baranczyk and the Sooners are in a good spot at this point. Now they just have to keep their pitch going
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The SEC is arguably the toughest women’s basketball conference in the country and Jennie Baranzcyk is excited for the challenge.
The move to the SEC raised the stakes for the entire Oklahoma Athletic Department. While much of the focus has been on the increase in competition for the football program, other teams will be seeing a step up in competition and intensity as well.
The SEC boasts arguably the best women’s basketball conference in the country. South Carolina has become a dominant force in recent years under head coach Dawn Staley. The Gamecocks went undefeated in 2023-2024 to capture their second national championship in the last three years. The one that South Carolina didn’t win in 2022-2023 was taken home by Kim Mulkey and the LSU Tigers, led by superstar forward Angel Reese.
Then there’s the women’s hoops blue blood Tennessee. They’ve been a tournament team, but haven’t found the same level of success they enjoyed under the legendary Pat Summitt.
And that’s what the Sooners will have to contend with when they enter the SEC, and Oklahoma women’s basketball head coach [autotag]Jennie Baranczyk[/autotag] is aware of the challenge facing her squad.
“I think you’re looking forward to playing everybody,” Baranczyk shared with SEC Now on Monday. “Because, honestly, I think every night it’s a dogfight every night, you know, and it’s new. It’s new to us. I mean, I know we’re new to everybody, but there’s no familiarity and so that’s going to be really fun in itself, especially that first year or two.”
Eight SEC programs made the Women’s NCAA tournament last season. Five of the eight made it to the round of 32 and the Gamecocks and LSU made it to the elite eight.
As tough as the conference will be for the Sooners, Oklahoma brings in a talented and experienced team. Under Baranczyk, they’ve made the round of 32 each season and were a few possessions away from beating Indiana and reaching the Sweet 16.
The Sooners made a splash in the transfer portal by adding forward [autotag]Raegan Beers[/autotag] to their Big 12 championship squad from a year ago. And as important as the talent on the floor, the Sooners have the right woman at the helm to guide this team on a deep tournament run.
Baranczyk has done a fantastic job with the Oklahoma women’s basketball program and has them positioned to be a force when they enter the SEC.
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Oklahoma Athletics had another strong year, finishing 24th in the Director’s Cup Top 25.
The Oklahoma Sooners had another very strong year, as OU has finished in the Top 25 of the Division 1 LEARFIELD Director’s Cup standings once again.
The Sooners finished ranked 24th, marking the 21st time in the last 24 years that Oklahoma has made an appearance in the final rankings.
Points are awarded based on each institution’s finish in the NCAA Championships. For Division I, 19 sports are counted, four of which must be baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and women’s volleyball. The next highest 15 (maximum) sports scored for each institution, regardless of gender, are used in the standings.
For the 21st time in 24 years, OU earns a top-25 national finish in the Division I LEARFIELD Directors' Cup standings!
The football team led by [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] participated in the [autotag]Valero Alamo Bowl[/autotag] following a bounce-back season in 2023. The Sooners posted 10 wins for the 42nd time in program history, including the signature win of the Venables era to this point. Oklahoma beat Texas 34-30 on October 7.
Obviously, the Sooners got a big jump from [autotag]Patty Gasso[/autotag]’s softball team winning their fourth national championship in a row an eighth overall.
But while football is always the headliner at Oklahoma and softball has become a force with their dynastic run under Gasso, plenty of other sports had remarkable seasons as well.
After winning its first-ever [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] regular season title, OU baseball hosted an NCAA regional for the first time since 2010. [autotag]Skip Johnson[/autotag] was named Big 12 Coach of the Year.
Women’s basketball won its second straight Big 12 championship under the direction of head coach [autotag]Jennie Baranczyk[/autotag], and first outright since 2009, en route to a third consecutive NCAA Tournament. The Sooners advanced to the second round of the tournament.
K.J. Kindler and the Women’s Gymnastics team made the NCAA tournament championship finals. Mark Williams and the Men’s team finished third in the NCAA finals.
Men’s and women’s tennis saw both squads advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Men’s golf placed ninth at the national championship, earning the program’s seventh top-10 finish in eight years. The squad won the NCAA Rancho Sante Fe Regional to qualify for the program’s 13th straight NCAA Championships – the second longest streak in the country. Women’s golf, returned to the postseason by earning a spot in regional action.
Joe Castiglione continues to be one of the best athletics directors in the business. The Sooners are in good hands as long as Joe C wants to keep doing it.
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The Oklahoma Sooners are a host seed in ESPN’s way-too-early Women’s Bracketology for the 2024-2025 season.
The Oklahoma Sooners have made it to the NCAA tournament’s round of 32 each of the last three seasons, but haven’t been able to break through to the sweet 16. Jennie Baranczyk has worked to create a roster capable of taking the Sooners on a deep run in the NCAA tournament.
She’s retained a ton of talent off of last year’s Big 12 championship team and added arguably the best transfer in the portal in former Oregon State forward Raegan Beers.
But the Sooners will take on new challenges as they make their way into the SEC. Still, the folks over at ESPN believe Oklahoma has a chance to make an impact in the 2024-2025 NCAA tournament.
In their way too early bracketology for next season, ESPN’s Charlie Creme has the Sooners as a four seed in the Spokane region, but hosting the opening two rounds of the tournament in Norman. Joining Oklahoma in the bracket projection are No. 5 Nebraska, No. 12 Gonzaga, and No. 13 Ball State. If the Sooners were able to hold home court, they’d advance to the sweet 16 where they could potentially take on the region’s No. 1 seed Notre Dame.
The Sooners were on the cusp of making their first sweet 16 appearance, but couldn’t find buckets down the stretch as Indiana pulled away. But the Sooners have a talented roster that keeps getting better and better under one of the better coaches in the country. Will 2024-2025 be the season the Sooners make a run to the Final Four? They’ve got the team to do it.
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Jennie Baranczyk is building the Oklahoma Sooners into a contender and the addition of Raegan Beers is the latest sign of the program’s upward trajectory.
[autotag]Jennie Baranczyk[/autotag] and the Oklahoma Sooners hit a home run in their recruitment ofOregon State transfer Raegan Beers. Beers, a third-team All-American, chose the Sooners over perennial powerhouse UConn, putting quite the feather in the cap of Baranczyk and her staff.
In Beers, the Sooners added one of the best players available in the transfer portal. She was really good in the NCAA tournament, helping Oregon State reach the Elite 8 before being ousted by eventual champion South Carolina. In the Beavers four games, she averaged 15 points and eight rebounds per game. In addition to her ability as a post scorer, she’s good defender that brings a physical element inside.
It’s an addition that will give the Sooners an opportunity to break through the round of 32 glass ceiling Oklahoma’s run into the last three seasons. They came close against Indiana, but couldn’t find a bucket late as the Hoosiers pulled away.
But with everyone that’s returning for 2024-2025 and the addition of Beers, the Sooners are now a Sweet 16 and Elite 8 contender in their own right.
The Sooners have had regular season success in a strong Big 12 conference. Baranczyk has led them to back-to-back Big 12 championships. But this staff hasn’t rested on that success. They know there’s more this program can accomplish. The addition of Beers, coupled with the talent they have coming back, gives the Sooners a boost that could propel them deep into the NCAA tournament.
The Oklahoma Sooners Women’s Basketball program is on the verge of breaking through to contender status. New challenges await as they venture into the SEC, but Jennie Baranczyk and her staff have been doing a great job with high school and transfer portal recruiting in addition to roster retention. She and her staff have created a culture that the players are buying into. There’s an energy in the program that has created an upward trajectory for the Sooners.
And beyond the culture, Baranczyk and her staff have proven to be really good basketball tacticians, helping the team create offense and get easy buckets. The addition of Beers adds a post element where the Sooners weren’t consistent enough in 2023-2024.
Beers proves the Sooners are capable of contending on the recruiting trail with the top teams in the nation. And with a reloaded roster, Baranczyk and the Sooners are off to prove they’re capable of contending with the best teams in the nation on the hardwood.
Everything’s there for the Sooners to be great in 2024-2025 and it’s time for the fan base to buy in as well.
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After leading Oregon State to the elite 8, All-American Raegan Beers announced her commitment to the Oklahoma Sooners.
The Oklahoma Sooners Women’s Basketball program continues to solidify itself at the national level during Jennie Baranczyk’s tenure at the helm. They’ve made three consecutive NCAA tournaments and advanced to the round of 32 each season.
This year, they were a few possessions away from advancing to the Sweet 16 before falling to Indiana in Bloomington. But Baranczyk and her staff haven’t settled on that success. They’ve continually looked to improve the roster and hit a home run on Monday adding All-American transfer Raegan Beers.
Beers, a forward from Colorado, played two seasons for Oregon State. She was the Pac-12 freshman of the year in 2022-2023 after averaging 13.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. She started six games that season before starting all 31 games for the Beavers in 2023-2024. Last year, Beers averaged 17.5 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, recording 16 double-doubles for an Oregon State team that went 27-8 and finished fourth in the Pac-12.
She was a two-time All-Pac-12 selection and earned third-team All-American honors from the Associated Press as a sophomore.
In Oregon State’s elite eight run, Beers averaged 15.75 points per game. In their loss to eventual national champion South Carolina, she scored 16 points had eight rebounds and three blocks, shooting 5-for-9 from the field and 6-for-9 from the free throw line.
Beers adds another inside presence to a Sooners lineup that will bring back a number of key pieces from their NCAA tournament team.
With the addition of Beers, the back-to-back defending Big 12 champions are loaded for their first run in the SEC, a conference that features women’s basketball powers South Carolina, LSU, and Tennessee.
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