The future is certainly bright for the Oklahoma Sooners after back-to-back trips to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, but they still have some dire needs head coach Jennie Baranczyk has to take care of this offseason, especially to improve and finally get to at least the Elite Eight next year.
The No. 4 seed Sooners lost to No. 1 South Carolina 94-68 on Saturday in Sacramento, California, to finish their season and suddenly turn attention toward 2026-27, which freshman Aaliyah Chavez is already confident about. But in order to even get to the same position as this season, there are three needs in particular the Sooners have.
Veteran presence
Raegan Beers, Payton Verhulst and Sahara Williams brought years of college basketball experience to OU's starting lineup this season, and even then, lack of experience still haunted the Sooners at times this season, especially during March Madness, with nearly half of the roster made up of freshmen.
With three seniors headed out this season, including two starters, Williams will be the only returning senior on next year's roster that will be loaded with young talent again. Williams will be the clear veteran leader of next year's squad and sophomore Zya Vann can also step into that role as an upperclassman. Freshman Aaliyah Chavez will also certainly be a leader as the best player after a season under her belt.
However, even if it comes as a depth piece and just locker room presence, Baranczyk has to use the Transfer Portal to add more experience to next year's roster. She already has plenty of great talent to develop, but the need is about seasoned talent, even if the long-term ceiling isn't as high. With such a young roster gaining experience now, this shouldn't be an issue beyond next season, but for a year, there needs to be portal rental that's been through it all and can be a steady hand when the lights are bright.
Starting center
The most painful goodbye by far for the Sooners will be center Raegan Beers, who is headed to the WNBA as a two-time First-Team All-SEC honoree and three-time All-American honorable mention with 67 career doubles. Backup center Beatrice Culliton is also graduating, leaving freshman Daffa Cissoko as the only returning center.
Cissoko likely won't be ready to start next year after appearing in just eight games and logging 20 total minutes this season as a signee from France. The Sooners could also go with a smaller lineup next season and start 6-foot-3 freshman forward Brooklyn Stewart at the 5, but they need a true center like Beers was to seriously compete in the SEC.
That leaves the Transfer Portal as Baranczyk's only option to find a much-needed starting center for 2026-27. And it's probably worth paying a big price for considering the Sooners, for the most part, already have the needed talent everywhere else.
3-point shooter
The Sooners struggled shooting from beyond the arc overall this season with a 29% three-point percentage. Chavez returns after leading OU with 83 makes from deep, but even her 30.5% wasn't all that assuring. The Sooners also lose Payton Verhulst, who was the closest they had to a three-point specialist with a career 33.6%.
There could be someone already on the Sooners' bench who can step up and be that three-point sniper when needed, but the best option might be to use the portal to solve not only this problem, but also get that veteran presence with the same player.