Nicki Collen, Jennie Baranczyk Semifinalist for Naismith Coach of Year
Baylor head coach Nicki Collen and Oklahoma head coach Jennie Baranczyk are two of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award.
Collen was named the Heartland College Sports Big 12 Coach of the Year after leading the Bears to their 12th straight Big 12 regular-season title. The Bears started the Big 12 season 0-2 and became the first team in 20 years to recover from that start to win the title. Collen succeeded Kim Mulkey, who left for LSU after last season and is also a semifinalist.
Baylor is the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Tournament, which begins on Thursday.
Baranczyk is in her first year with the Oklahoma Sooners and led the Sooners to the No. 4 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. The Sooners face the No. 5 seed Kansas Jayhawks on Friday.
Baranczyk, who succeeded Sherri Coale, has led the Sooners (23-7, 12-6 in Big 12) led the Sooners to the wins over Top 26 teams of any first-year head coach in OU history. The Sooners also swept Baylor for the first time in more than a decade. Baranczyk reached 20 wins the third-fastest in program history.
2022 Naismith Women’s Coach of the Year
Semifinalists
(Big 12 Coaches in Bold)
Jennie Baranczyk, Oklahoma
Kim Barnes-Arico, Michigan
Nicki Collen, Baylor
Kelly Rae Finley, Florida
Jeff Judkins, BYU
Wes Moore, NC State
Kim Mulkey, LSU
Dawn Staley, South Carolina
Tara VanDerveer, Stanford
Jeff Walz, Louisville
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
