Why OU basketball's Jennie Baranczyk is comfortable coaching against Iowa in March Madness
NORMAN — The fire Jennie Baranczyk shows on the sidelines as a coach isn’t any different from the fire the then-Jennie Lillis showed as a player at Iowa.
“I just remember her fight,” Jan Jensen said. “And it’s been no surprise, if you watch her, she’s got that fight on the sideline and she’s going to go and she’s going to attack anything that she feels is worth doing. She’s going to give it everything she’s got.”
Baranczyk and Jensen will be on opposite sides Monday when Baranczyk’s third-seeded OU women’s basketball team takes on sixth-seeded Iowa at 3 p.m. in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Lloyd Noble Center.
But their history goes way back.
Jensen played at Drake, where as a senior Lisa Bluder took over as the Bulldogs’ head coach.
After a brief professional career, Jensen returned to Drake to begin her coaching career under Bluder.
Bluder and Jensen tried their best to recruit a forward from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the class of 2000.
“I grew up going to Drake basketball camps when Lisa and Jan were there,” Baranczyk said. “Jan used to chase me around and just used to drive me crazy. I didn’t know she was recruiting me. I just thought she was in my shadow.
“She would leave you voicemails that wouldn’t stop. Used to have those answering machines and they would stop because she would still be talking, and she would call back and leave more.”
The coaching duo quickly realized they didn’t have much of a chance — until Bluder took the job as Iowa’s head coach and Jensen came along with her to join the staff.
Lillis was committed to the Hawkeyes, and though she had her sights set higher than playing at Drake, Lillis was thrilled to be able to play for Bluder and Jensen.
Baranczyk helped lead Iowa to the NCAA Tournament as a freshman, playing a significant role alongside Randi Henderson.
"Never would back down," Jensen said of Baranczyk. "Nothing was ever undoable. And I think that thought process has always served her really well."
The now Randi Peterson joined Jensen’s staff after Jensen took over for the retiring Bluder after helping the Hawkeyes to back-to-back NCAA runner-up finishes the last two seasons with Caitlin Clark starring.
Though Baranczyk was a popular candidate to take over when Bluder stepped down, Iowa made a quick decision to promote Jensen and Baranczyk couldn’t be happier.
“Jan is one of the most thoughtful and caring people,” Baranczyk said. “That translates over. … I just think Jan is really — she’s one of those people that wants great people around her too. So she’s going to do an incredible job and she always has and she always will.”
Of course, Baranczyk did eventually wind up at Drake. Earning her first head coaching opportunity at the Des Moines school.
Her fourth home game as a head coach came Dec. 16, 2012 against the Hawkeyes.
Iowa won that game, 82-65.
It was the first matchup of nine against Iowa during Baranczyk’s coaching tenure there.
In her fourth season, Baranczyk coached the Bulldogs to a win over her alma mater.
But since that first meeting more than a decade ago, Baranczyk’s perspective has changed significantly.
“At the beginning, it’s personal and you want it so bad for yourself, right?” Baranczyk said. “And then you realize it’s really not about you. Then you grow. You start to see your teams compete.
"Then it becomes a game, and then you can have, really, respect and love for a place that you came from and other programs and you keep it between the lines, because you want to win every game that you play. Every other game that Iowa plays I want them to win. Of course I do.”
Monday’s game has plenty of meaning for Baranczyk.
She’ll be working to advance to her first Sweet 16 as a coach and OU’s first since 2013.
Baranczyk will be coaching against one of the coaches that recruited her and nurtured her in college, and the program that she says will always be a big part of her life.
But it’ll also be about more.
Baranczyk said she’ll be wearing a pin with “52” on it, as will the Iowa coaching staff, to honor her former Hawkeye teammate Jamie Cavey-Lang.
Cavey-Lang, who spent seven seasons as part of Iowa’s radio broadcast, died in December after a battle with cancer.
“This game will be a little bit sentimental,” Baranczyk said, referring to Cavey. “... And that’s humbling. That’s hard. That’s going to be something that we’re going to celebrate tomorrow.”
OU vs. Iowa
TIPOFF: 3 p.m. Monday at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman in the second round of the NCAA Tournament (ESPN)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU women's basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk comfortable facing Iowa
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