Jennie Baranczyk Explained

Jennie Baranczyk
Current Title:Head Coach
Current Team:Oklahoma
Current Conference:SEC
Contract:$1,075,000
Birth Date:22 February 1982
Birth Place:Urbandale, Iowa
Alma Mater:Iowa
Player Years1:2000–2004
Player Team1:Iowa
Player Positions:Power forward
Coach Years2:2004–2006
Coach Team2:Kansas State (assistant)
Coach Sport2:Women's Basketball
Coach Years3:2006–2010
Coach Team3:Marquette (assistant)
Coach Years4:2010–2012
Coach Team4:Colorado (assistant)
Coach Years5:2012–2021
Coach Team5:Drake
Coach Years6:2021–present
Coach Team6:Oklahoma
Championships:
Awards:
  • Big 12 Coach of the Year (2024)
  • 2x MVC Coach of the Year (2017, 2018)

As player:

  • First-team All-Big Ten (2003)
  • 2× Second-team All-Big Ten (2002, 2004)

Jennie Lillis Baranczyk (born Jennie Marie Lillis; February 22, 1982)[1] is an American basketball coach who is the current head coach of the University of Oklahoma women's basketball team.[2]

Early life and education

Born Jennie Marie Lillis in Cedar Rapids, Iowa,[1] Jennie Baranczyk was raised in Urbandale, Iowa and attended Dowling Catholic High School in nearby West Des Moines.[3] A communications major, Baranczyk attended the University of Iowa and played at forward on the Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team under head coach Lisa Bluder from 2000 to 2004.[3] As a senior, Baranczyk averaged 16.0 points and 6.2 rebounds and was a second-team All-Big Ten selection. She also earned second-team All-Big Ten honors in 2002 and first-team honors in 2003, in addition to being a Women's Basketball Coaches Association Region 6 honorable mention All-American, and was an academic All-Big Ten honoree from 2002 to 2004.[3] Baranczyk won the Big Ten's Medal of Honor for academic and athletic excellence upon graduating from Iowa in 2004.[4]

YearTeamGPPointsFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
2000–01Iowa3133349.0%0.0%62.6%7.61.81.10.810.7
2001–02Iowa2942953.7%33.3%79.0%6.02.61.20.814.8
2002–03Iowa3353748.2%41.7%77.0%7.22.22.01.216.3
2003–04Iowa2946343.4%36.6%81.7%6.23.21.90.916.0
Career122176248.2%36.0%75.5%6.82.41.60.914.4

Coaching career

Baranczyk began her coaching career in 2004 at Kansas State under Deb Patterson and helped Kansas State win the 2006 WNIT. From 2006 to 2010, Baranczyk was an assistant at Marquette under Terri Mitchell, including Marquette's 2008 WNIT title. At Marquette, Baranczyk also helped with recruiting, game scheduling, opponent scouting, and public relations.[5] The first hire on the new coaching staff, Baranczyk then was an assistant at Colorado under Linda Lappe beginning on May 10, 2010.[4]

Drake

On April 17, 2012, Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa hired Baranczyk as head women's basketball coach.[2] Drake went 11–20 in Baranczyk's first season and improved to 17–15 in the 2013–14 season. Baranczyk followed that season by leading Drake to a 20–11 record and the first round of the 2015 WNIT, the first postseason appearance in her tenure. In 2016, Drake improved to 23–10 and advanced to the second round of the WNIT.[6]

The 2016–17 season was the most successful in Baranczyk's tenure, as Drake reached a 28–5 record that included a program and Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) record 22-game winning streak and 18–0 MVC record, the first team in the MVC to go undefeated in conference play. Drake won its first conference title since 2008 and first outright title since 2000. Drake went on to win the MVC tournament for the first time since 2007 and qualified for the NCAA tournament.[6]

Oklahoma

Baranczyk was named head coach at Oklahoma on April 10, 2021, after nine years at Drake.[7] In her first three years, she has brought Oklahoma into the second round of the NCAA Tournament. She delivered a Big 12 Conference regular season championship to the Sooners in 2022–23, the program's first in 15 years. The next season, Baranczyk and OU won their second consecutive conference title, posting a 15–3 record in Big 12 play to win the title outright. She was named the Big 12's Coach of the Year in 2024 and coached Big 12 Player of the Year Skylar Vann and the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Payton Verhulst.

She became the first Oklahoma head coach to be named a National Coach of the Year finalist in each of their first three seasons.

Personal life

Formerly Jennie Lillis, Baranczyk married Scott Baranczyk in 2009.[2] They have three children.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20040514013905/http://www.wnba.com/draft2004/prospect_jennie_lillis.html. May 14, 2004. Jennie Lillis, University of Iowa. WNBA. June 16, 2017.
  2. Web site: Jennis Lillis Baranczyk named head women's basketball coach. April 17, 2012. Drake University. January 21, 2017. Des Moines, Iowa. https://web.archive.org/web/20170121145713/http://www.godrakebulldogs.com/news/2012/4/17/jennie_lillis_baranczyk_named_drake_head_women_s_basketball_coach.aspx. January 21, 2017. live.
  3. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20040816013900/http://hawkeyesports.collegesports.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/lillis_jennie00.html. August 16, 2004. Jennie Lillis. June 26, 2017. Iowa Hawkeyes.
  4. Web site: Jennie Baranczyk. Colorado Buffaloes. June 26, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20110913085515/http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=3906&SPID=258&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=204963977&Q_SEASON=2011. September 13, 2011. live.
  5. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20090608234157/http://www.gomarquette.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/baranczyk_jennie00.html. June 8, 2009. Jennie Baranczyk. Marquette University Athletics. June 26, 2017.
  6. Web site: 2016-17 Women's Basketball Coaching Staff: Jennie Baranczyk, Head Women's Basketball Coach. Drake Bulldogs. June 26, 2017.
  7. Web site: Birch . Tommy . April 10, 2021 . Drake coach Jennie Baranczyk accepts head coaching job at Oklahoma . April 4, 2024 . The Des Moines Register . en-US.