Jennie Baranczyk strengthens the Sooners’ bench by bringing Oklahoma native Latricia Trammell home, leveraging her elite WNBA pedigree and defensive mastery to fuel the program's championship ambitions
Oklahoma women’s basketball just made a hire that should get people’s attention.
Jennie Baranczyk announced Wednesday that former WNBA head coach and Coach of the Year finalist Latricia Trammell is joining the Sooners as associate head coach, pending approval from OU’s Board of Regents.
This is not a filler staff move. This is a home-state coach with real professional credibility walking into a program that has already been rising and clearly wants the next jump to stick.
Trammell is a Seminole, Oklahoma native. She is not just another experienced name on a staff directory. She is coming back after nearly a decade in the WNBA as both a head coach and assistant, most recently serving with the Chicago Sky in 2026. For a program that sells culture, development, and standards, that combination of résumé and roots is hard to beat.
Baranczyk made the stakes of the hire pretty clear.
“The opportunity to welcome Latricia Trammell back to her home state of Oklahoma and add her to our staff is incredibly special,” Baranczyk said.
“She has coached and developed some of the best players in the world, won at every level and brings a wealth of experience that will immediately elevate our program. Her knowledge of the game, ability to connect with players and experience leading at the highest level will be invaluable to our staff and our team. Most importantly, Latricia is an Oklahoma native who knows what it means to represent this state, and we’re thrilled to have her back home.”
That last part is the emotional center of the announcement, but the professional center is just as strong. Trammell became a WNBA head coach in 2023 with the Dallas Wings and immediately made the franchise look different. In her first season she led Dallas to 22 wins, the most since the franchise moved there in 2016, finished second in the Western Conference, reached the WNBA semifinals, and finished runner-up for Coach of the Year. That is not a quiet first year on the job. That is proof she can run a room and get production out of talented players right away.
The player-development footprint followed her there. Satou Sabally earned All-WNBA First Team honors and was named Most Improved Player under Trammell’s watch, while Arike Ogunbowale made the All-Star team. Ogunbowale then followed with All-Star Game MVP honors and All-WNBA second-team recognition in 2024. Coaches can talk development language all day. Trammell has the actual names attached to it.
Before Dallas, she spent four seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks from 2019 to 2022 and helped build one of the stronger defensive identities in the league. Four Sparks players earned WNBA All-Defensive Team honors during that stretch, including 2020 Defensive Player of the Year Candace Parker, and Los Angeles made two playoff appearances. She later returned to the Sparks in 2025 as a special assistant under Lynne Roberts, with Los Angeles going 15-9 over its final 24 games and barely missing the postseason.
In Chicago last season, she was on staff as Kamilla Cardoso produced the best year of her young career. The pattern is consistent. Wherever Trammell lands, good players tend to look more complete. Her path to the WNBA also has enough Oklahoma flavor to make this hire feel natural.
She started as an assistant at Texas Woman’s University in 2003, became a head coach at Western State from 2007 to 2012, then came home to Oklahoma City University and completely took off. At OCU she went 85-10 in three seasons and won back-to-back NAIA national championships in 2014 and 2015. That is the part local fans should remember. Before she was a WNBA coach, she was already a proven winner on the state map. Stops at Georgia State and then San Antonio followed before the Sparks job launched the next stage of her career.
Trammell sounded like somebody who understands exactly what this move means.
“I’m very grateful to Coach Baranczyk for the opportunity to return to my home state and become part of something special at Oklahoma. I have tremendous respect for what Jennie has built and the culture she has established in Norman. I’m 100% committed to helping us reach the highest of heights in 2026-27 and beyond. I’m excited to bring my experience from the WNBA and contribute in any way I’m asked to. I’m looking forward to getting started and eager to invest in our student-athletes, the Oklahoma community and everything we’re building together. The future of Oklahoma women’s basketball is so bright, and I’m truly honored to be a part of it. I can’t wait to get started.”
That is the right tone. No overpromising. No detached résumé tour. Just a coach who knows the state, respects the job Baranczyk has already done, and is ready to add another layer to it.
The timing works too. Trammell joins before Oklahoma’s Oct. 25 exhibition against Southern Nazarene at Lloyd Noble Center and the regular-season open on Nov. 2 in Paris against North Carolina. There is enough runway for her to get integrated before the real slate begins.
For Baranczyk, this is a staff addition with substance. For Oklahoma, it is a reminder that the women’s program is still trying to stock the building with people who have won at a high level and can develop players who want to be pushed.
Trammell checks both boxes. She also happens to be coming home. That is a pretty strong combination.
