During the postseason, Oklahoma women’s basketball saw a few roster changes.
On March 25, four days before the Sooners final game of the 2024-25 season, Oklahoma landed No. 1 recruit Aaliyah Chavez, a five star and National Gatorade Player of the Year.
In her senior season at Monterey High School in Lubbock, Texas, Chavez averaged 34.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.7 steals per game. During high school, she accumulated 4,796 points, 1,279 rebounds, 771 assists and 476 steals. She also achieved 636 3-pointers throughout her high school career.
Head coach Jennie Baranczyk, though, started recruiting Chavez before the start of her high school career.
“It’s been a really long process but also feels like yesterday, watching her before she was in high school,” Baranczyk said. “At the end of the day, she picked our program because of the relationships she has with our coaches and our players. She really liked our team and just a style of play that really fit.”
Chavez is one of four McDonald’s All-Americans on the 2025-26 Oklahoma roster. She joins rising fifth-year senior guard Payton Verhulst, senior center Raegan Beers and junior forward Sahara Williams, who have also achieved this feat.
Chavez joins four-star guard Keziah Lofton and four-star forward Brooklyn Stewart.
Lofton did not make her first appearance during her senior season until February due to an injury. However, she brings athleticism and a defensive mindset that can help the Sooners in seasons to come. Stewart, on the other hand, has an energy that matches the Sooners and brings a skill set on and off the court as a leader.
“I’m really excited to be able to mesh the three of them,” Baranczyk said. “I think they’re just a perfect class coming in with the perfect leadership we have.”
However, a few days after the Sooners lost in the Sweet 16 on March 29 to national champions Connecticut, sophomore center Landry Allen, junior guard Reyna Scott and junior forward Kierston Johnson decided to enter the transfer portal.
Despite losing some size on the court due to the transfer portal and five key players graduating as well, the six returning Sooners have stepped up. Baranczyk noted in media availability on Monday that rising senior center Beatrice Culliton has stepped into a whole other level of what the team needs to do as a program.
“You talk about somebody who puts their heart and soul into Oklahoma,” Baranczyk said. “You have to have players like that.”
Baranczyk will also be looking at the transfer portal during the offseason in hopes of elevating the roster. Oklahoma lost physicality but is looking for a variety of positions to add to next season's roster.
“We’re going to chase the right people, and we want to make sure the right people fit in the right locker room,” Baranczyk said. “That’s something that we have to make sure that we continue to gatekeep.”
This article was edited by Josh McDaniel.
