By Hawk Fanatic

Jennie Baranczyk has come a long way since those days in high school when she thought Jan Jensen was her personal shadow.

“I grew up going to Drake basketball camps when Lisa (Bluder) and Jan were there,” Baranczyk said Sunday. “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.

“And that’s Jan. She would leave you voicemails that would 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.”

Baranczyk was named Jennie Lillis when she played at Iowa under former Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder from 2000-04. Jensen was also an Iowa assistant coach when Baranczyk played for Hawkeyes.

Bluder and Jensen apparetnly had such an impact on Baranczyk that Baranczyk also decided to become a head coach.

Baranczyk and Bluder both used their success as the Drake head coach to land a bigger job with Baranczyk now the head coach for Oklahoma, while Bluder retired last May as Iowa’s all-time winningest head coach, and after leading Iowa to NCAA runner-up finishes in each of the past two seasons with former All-America point guard Caitlin Clark leading the way.

Jensen was promoted to head coach on the same day Bluder announced her retirement, and now Jensen and Baranczyk are getting their teams ready to square off in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday in Norman, Oklahoma.

“I’m proud of Jan,” Baranczyk said. “I love that Lisa ended her career the way she wanted to end it. I love that she passed it on to Jan. I think that’s really positive for so many programs that want to build and sustain something. That’s what they’ve done.

“But I also — and I don’t know this, but it looks like Jan’s done it her way, too. That’s not easy to do when you’ve been with somebody for so long. You kind of start thinking the same. I think she’s just done a great job of being able to build that program.”

The Sooners have won 10 out of their last 11 games and are in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season under Baranczyk.

Oklahoma is also 21-7 when seeded third or higher and 6-2 as a No. 3 seed.

Baranczyk was used to playing at a fast pace under Bluder at Iowa and now Baranczyk uses a similar approach as a head coach.

He team likes to push the pace and score in transition.

“We give all the respect to them,” said Iowa senior forward Syd Affolter. “They like to push the ball. But we also like to push the ball and get up and down. So it will definitely be a fast-paced game, and we’re excited.

Iowa, which is seeded sixth, has won 11 of its last 14 games with its last seven wins all coming by double figures.

Jensen is also the third head coach in program history to win at least 20 games in her first season.

So, both of these teams have momentum and should be confident heading into Monday’s game.

“I think Iowa has depth,” Baranczyk said. “I think they can space you out. Obviously, they can drive the ball. Score in the paint. Shoot the three. They’ve got great post play.

“You know, just a very traditional Iowa team. And not to mention they have experience. So I understand they had a superstar on their team a year ago and had to work through some things as well, but they have that experience, too, that we don’t have.

“So that’s always something.”

Baranczyk takes pride in what she accomplished as a Hawkeye and she respects what her alma mater has accomplished in women’s basketball.

“And they have a fan base that travels,” Baranczyk said. “I said this a million times. What I’ve been really excited about in the state of Oklahoma is I come from a background from Iowa where women’s basketball matters. It mattered before Caitlin came to Iowa.

“Now, she really elevated it, obviously, but it’s always been really important in that state, and we want to continue to have women’s sports, and in particular obviously our sport, women’s basketball, really elevated here in Oklahoma.”

Baranczyk grew up in Urbandale and attended West Des Moines Dowling High School.

As a college 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.

Baranczyk also won the Big Ten’s Medal of Honor for academic and athletic excellence upon graduating from Iowa in 2004.

One of Jensen’s main responsibilities as an Iowa assistant coach was working with the post players. Baranczyk is one of multiple post players that have thrived under Jensen’s tutelage.

And though Baranczyk played for Iowa over two decades ago, she apparently isn’t afraid to get on the court and show what made her a standout in college.

“She definitely has showed us in practice, and she’s kicked our butt some, too; we’ve kicked her butt,” said Oklahoma player Payton Verhulst. “Sometimes she doesn’t want to admit what maybe. I think this game, Jennie does a really good job of — we don’t really want to live up to any hype of rivalries even when we play Texas and have the Red Rivalry.

“For us we just want to play basketball. No matter who we play or who we are playing against, where we’re playing, I think for us it just matters about the game.”

Baranczyk tried as she met with the media on Sunday to focus on the present instead of her past.

But she also understands the unique circumstance.

“I mean, of course you get that. At the same time, you know, you want to keep it a game, too,” Baranczyk said. “I want to keep it less about the fact that I played however many years ago — and I know you’ll all have the dates so please just leave that out — but I really want to keep it on how special our team has been this year.

“We’ve had a phenomenal year. It’s been a hard year and it’s been one that we’ve had to fall down, get up, had to grow. We’ve had to — we’re in a new conference. Every game we’ve played this season has been like an NCAA tournament game.

“So it’s just been a really cool journey that goes back a couple years. This team has really grown together, so that’s really where I want to keep the focus as much as I can.”

Jensen isn’t necessarily thrilled about coaching against a friend and former Hawkeye.

But Jensen also understands what she is up against in Baranczyk, who was the ultimate competitor as a player and now as a head coach.

“I’d prefer to be cheering for her and I think she would be doing the same way, the same thing,” Jensen said. “You’d like to think, you know, I believe in the teams that we coached when I was part of Lisa Bluder’s staff and what I’m continuing, I hope, is we have that saying, once a Hawk, always a Hawk. I believe that Jennie really feels that way.

“So I think she’s proud of that. But she’s also an amazing coach, right. Look at the success she’s had. One of the most competitive, fiery, never going to back down kids that I’ve ever coached, right. So she’s really good. She can separate all that. She’s not nostalgic or a sentimentalist. She’s going to get after it and go.”

As Baranczyk reflected on her Hawkeye roots with the media, she mentioned her former college teammate Jamie Cavey-Lang, who passed away in December.

Baranczyk will pay tribute to Cavey’s memory during Monday’s game by having her coaches and players wear a pin in her honor.

“This game will be a little bit sentimental because this last December I lost one of my teammates that I played with at Iowa for three of those four years,” Baranczyk said. “She’s a mom and she did the radio and you all know her. Jamie Cavey. And that’s humbling. That’s hard. That’s going to be something that we’re going to celebrate tomorrow. So you’ll see us have 52 pins on. So we’re going to get some for the Iowa staff as well.

“And that will be somebody that we want celebrate and honor during this game. She meant a lot to me personally, but she really meant a lot to that program, and that’s important for me on both levels.”

Iowa (23-10) vs. Oklahoma (26-7)

When: Monday, 3 p.m.

Where: Norman, Oklahoma

TV: ESPN

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

All-time series:  Iowa leads the all-time series against Oklahoma, 2-1. Iowa and Oklahoma have never met in the NCAA Tournament.