How OU women's basketball landed Raegan Beers, All-American transfer from Oregon State

NORMAN — Intentional is the word those closest to Raegan Beers use to describe the past month.

Few believed she would ever leave Oregon State, where she was a two-time All-American. But the implosion of the Pac-12 changed everything.

She entered the transfer portal in April. Naturally, she had nationwide interest but her list of schools came down to just two programs.

OU and UConn.

Beers, who has WNBA aspirations and averaged 17.5 points and 10.6 rebounds in 2023-24 against star-studded Pac-12 competition, wouldn’t improve in the West Coast Conference, where the Beavers are now affiliate members.

“It came down to the fact of knowing for the next two years where she wanted to be, and not just about winning and not just about maybe going to a Final Four,” Raegan’s father Ike told The Oklahoman. "But being able to make an impact in the community and make an impact with her teammates. She felt like Oklahoma was going to be the best option overall.”

Beers knew culturally where she fit. So, when she announced her commitment to OU, one of her five finalists in high school, on April 29, those closest to Beers weren’t surprised.

Head coach Jennie Baranczyk’s recruiting coup sent shockwaves across the nation and signaled to the SEC that the Sooners are coming to compete. Landing a player like Beers — a 6-foot-4 forward tabbed the top player in the portal with two years of eligibility — not only makes OU a legitimate contender next season, but it serves as a potential program-altering roster addition.

Beers’ proven leadership is also a game changer and a welcome sight for Baranczyk.

“It feels really good because you get to have this great player who is this incredible person join your team,” Baranczyk told The Oklahoman. “And somebody that works really hard, they're very blue collar. They're very humble. And they're just a really good fit for our team and for Oklahoma.

“She's an incredible fit on the team in terms of her personality and the way that she fits in off the floor. That's really huge, and that's something that we want to continue to make sure because we want people here to be able to watch these women have fun playing and fall in love with this team and the way that they play.”

OU returns most of its team from a year ago that fell to Indiana in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In each of Baranczyk’s first three seasons the Sooners have failed to advance past the second round.When last season ended, her staff targeted a big in the transfer portal.

In each tournament loss, OU's lack of size was evident. Notre Dame's Maya Dodson, who is 6-3, scored 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. UCLA dominated in the paint with multiple players. Indiana's Mackenzie Holmes, who is also 6-3, dropped 29 points.

Beers also adds rare scoring and starpower as OU joins the SEC. Outside of Kentucky’s Georgia Amoore, who transferred from Virginia Tech, and Florida returner Aaliyah Matharu, no returning SEC player as of May 12 that played for a Power Five program last season averaged more points.

“Obviously, she has the ability around the rim, to be able to position herself, to be able to rebound the basketball defensively,” Baranczyk said. “I think she really understands angles and has some size that we haven't had, and so I think she can see that.”

When it was clear she’d be leaving her community, Beers wasn’t just going to transfer anywhere. Relationships, not a program with history or accolades, were going to be key to landing her.

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‘This is a place that needs her’

Every player’s recruitment and transfer process is unique.

But Baranczyk knew it was important to get Beers to Norman for a visit.

When she arrived, she immediately wanted to watch a workout and film to get into the details of what her day-to-day routine would be like.

Baranczyk was game.

“She knows what she's looking for,” Baranczyk said. “She knows what she wants, she wants to play at a really high level. Culture is really big for her in terms of the team connection. She wanted to go somewhere that she was needed, and clearly this is a place that needs her, and so we're really excited about that.”

During their visit, Beers’ family attended OU football’s spring game and buzz quickly spread about her presence in town. They also attended the OU softball game at Love's Field, where they were impressed by the fans' support for women's sports and were able to explore some of Norman’s arts scene.

Of course it wasn’t going to be that easy. UConn, led by arguably the greatest women’s basketball coach of all time, earned a visit from Raegan.

The Beers family was astonished by Storrs, Connecticut, and what Geno Auriemma has built. How could someone turn down the chance to play in Harry A. Gampel Pavilion and alongside Paige Bueckers?

Still, Beers knew what she wanted when she entered the portal and she felt it when she was in Norman. It took her just 18 days from when she announced her portal entry to when she committed to OU.

“I was so impressed and blown away with just the amount of work that went into that OU visit,” Ike said.

Most around the country saw Beers’ commitment as a solid partnership between her and Baranczyk, a rising coach in the sport. But entering her fourth year as OU’s coach, Baranczyk has proved her ability to recruit, coach and retain talent goes far beyond Xs and Os.

The Beers family was impressed by the confidence exuded from OU’s facility in what Baranczyk has already built. The stableness of the program and the family environment throughout the staff and team.

“You can tell the investment that she puts in each day,” Ike said. “It’s pretty impressive. I know that most coaches have a will to win for sure but when you can basically combine a will to win with a sense of togetherness and family, that's a rare combination. That’s what Jennie has built.”

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‘Her personality is magnetic’

Beers’ OU commitment video opens with a shot of her childhood neighborhood in Littleton, Colorado.

“This is where it started,” Beers says. “Hours spent on the pavement and the cul-de-sac, competing against my siblings, my mom, my dad.”

Jessika Caldwell remembers that kid from the neighborhood who loved the game and was unaware of the talent she possessed. Caldwell, Beers’ head coach at Valor Christian High School, also recalls the moment the switch flipped when she sat her down one day in her office.

“Hey, I'm gonna need you to kind of play a lot,” Caldwell told a then-freshman Beers. “Like, play the whole game.”

The rest is history.

Beers became a McDonald’s All-American and was ranked a five-star and top-10 recruit nationally by ESPN. She played against the best players in the country in high school and developed a budding rivalry with Lauren Betts, the No. 1 overall recruit in Beers’ class who attended Grandview High School less than 20 miles from Valor.

Caldwell watched Beers keep that competitive edge during her time at Oregon State when she faced the likes of former Stanford star Cameron Brink and USC phenom Juju Watkins.

But more than her play on the court, Caldwell is proud of the person. Prior to her freshman season at Oregon State, Beers traveled to Panama with Caldwell and her high school team for a mission trip.

Working with kids in the mountain towns was one of the highlights of her life. Like Caldwell, Beers also aspires to become a teacher once her playing days are over.

“She watched my kiddos in the summers often,” Caldwell said. “And she definitely is one of the favorite babysitters of all time. She has such a tremendous ability to connect with people and I think she has a tremendous ability to connect with little people. She gets down to their level and she is joyful and creative. Her personality is magnetic.”

When she arrives on campus in Norman, Beers will be joined by a similarly positive force in her life.

Shortly after garnering Beers’ commitment, Baranczyk hired Oregon State’s associate head coach Jonas Chatterton to serve in the same role. Baranczyk and Chatterton were on the same Colorado staff over a decade ago.

In Corvalis, Beers and Chatterton grew close and attended the same church. Beers also helped coach Chatterton’s kids’ basketball teams.

“I gotta tell you, if I'm being a little selfish, I was ecstatic when I heard that Jonas was coming,” Ike said. “He is an awesome individual. He's a great coach. Raegan’s extremely excited to have to have him coming there. For her personally, I think it's going to be a great lift. It's going to be something where she's got that known quantity, she knows how he coaches and she knows his expectations.”

While the hire and Beers’ commitment were separate acquisitions, Baranczyk is excited about the relationship the two have already built.

“I think it'll provide more comfortability from Reagan’s standpoint of being able to have some familiarity,” Baranczyk said. “Jonas has a really high standard and he has developed some WNBA talent, and so that's something that we're excited to have on our staff, just from an overall player development standpoint.”

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‘People are going to fall in love with her’

When Baranczyk introduced Beers to OU’s current roster, the potential of what a team with her in tow could accomplish immediately began whirling in her head.

While it was just the group’s first meeting, the team gravitated toward Beers’ personality. How they welcomed her and accepted her eagerness to jump in and lead on Day 1 also went a long way for the Beers family.

“She is a teacher,” Baranczyk said. “You can tell that and sometimes when you see these really high level players, you think, ‘Oh my gosh, they’re these great basketball players.’ Reagan is so much more than a great basketball player.

“You could easily see kids flocking to her. She just has this energy and this incredible youthfulness about her, it was really cool to be able to see that. People are gonna fall in love with her.”

The Sooners return leading scorer Skylar Vann alongside fellow starters Lexy Keys, Peyton Verhulst, Nevaeh Tot and the talented Sahara Williams, who earned an All-Big 12 honorable mention honor as a freshman and was a five-star recruit in the 2023 recruiting class.

Not to mention, Oklahoma will have a healthy Liz Scott.

Earning Beers’ commitment was the first step in what Baranczyk hopes is a successful two seasons for Beers in crimson and cream, but she can’t help but take a second and feel excited for what’s ahead.

For her program and the community.

“You start thinking about everything else, there's always a trickle down when people have a really good experience,” Baranczyk said of adding a star like Beers. “That is going to open the doors and it's going to open people's eyes more to this program and so the program will continue to grow.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: How Oklahoma women's basketball landed Raegan Beers from Oregon State