NORMAN — The sixth-ranked OU women’s basketball is just a week away from its exhibition game against Oklahoma Christian on Oct 30, and coach Jennie Baranczyk has a team with Final Four aspirations.
Here are three takeaways from the Sooners‘ media day Wednesday:
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Aaliyah Chavez, OU freshmen responding well to veteran leadership
Five of the 11 players on OU’s 2025-26 roster are true freshmen, including the nation’s top recruit Aaliyah Chavez.
Veteran players such as preseason All-SEC center Raegan Beers, fifth-year guard Payton Verhulst and junior forward Sahara Williams have taken leadership positions to guide the newcomers.
“I think that’s a huge reason why Aaliyah chose to come here,” Baranczyk said. “I think they’re incredible leaders for her, and they’re gonna allow her … but they’re also gonna make her become a better leader. They’re also saying ‘No, you gotta speak up, we don’t care how old you are.’ It’s not, ‘Oh, she doesn’t have to do things because they’re gonna do it for her.’ They’re actually good enough leaders that they’re gonna tell her, ‘You gotta do your job.’”
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Williams described her leadership style as intense, but said the freshmen are taking on the help and guidance really well.
“They’re awesome,” Williams said. “They come up and they just bring so much joy, and I think they’re so young, they have so much fun, and it makes it easier as a leader to come and lead them.”
More: How OU women’s basketball landed Aaliyah Chavez, the top player in 2025 recruiting class
Building home court advantage
In Baranczyk’s first few games at OU, she could call people out in the crowd by name and tell them to stand up. With the growth of NIL, Baranczyk said women’s basketball players have become household names, and that’s helped the sport grow its fan base.
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When facing teams such as South Carolina, which constantly sells out its 18,000-seat arena, Baranczyk highlighted the importance of a home court advantage.
“I want us to create a home court advantage cause it’s fun, it’s entertaining,” Baranczyk said. “I’ve seen these players play for a long time and this is a team that you wanna be able to come and you wanna watch, because they have fun playing. … Fill the place cause it’s fun.”
More: USA TODAY Sports Network preseason women’s basketball All-SEC, awards for 2025-26
High ranking not affecting Sooners mentality
OU is ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press preseason poll, its highest since 2009. This is just the seventh time the Sooners have opened the season inside the top 10. While the recognition is flattering, it is not affecting how Baranczyk and her team approach the season.
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“I don’t really care what other people think of us,” Baranczyk said. “I care what we think of us when we step on the floor and we perform. … Quite honestly if we worry about that we’re gonna be on a rollercoaster that we don’t get to control.”
Beers said they are focusing on the 11 players in their group and nothing else.
“We wanna make sure that bubble is tight. We wanna make sure that bubble is safe,” Beers said. “Ignore all that outside noise, good and bad, coming in. … Rankings are cool. We love to see us rank high. We’re trying not to read too much into that. We’re trying to focus on getting better right now. We all got work to do, no matter how high you’re ranked.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Jennie Baranczyk, OU basketball aren’t worried about outside noise
