Freshmen Whitney Hand and Jasmine Hartman enrolled in June intersession and began classes Monday, allowing them to participate in upcoming preseason workouts with the team.

Hand, a 6-1 shooting guard from Fort Worth, Texas, and Hartman, a 5-10 point guard from Bellaire, Texas, give the Sooners more talented depth. All 12 players from the 2007-08 squad return for 2008-09.

Hand averaged 25 points, 13 rebounds and six assists while leading Liberty Christian School (Argyle, Texas) to back-to-back TAPPS Class 5A state championships. She was named a high school All-American by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

Hartman led the nation in assists while piloting Bellaire High School to a regional quarterfinal appearance in the state tournament. Under Hartman's direction, Bellaire collected a 36-2 record and spent most of the season ranked in the top 10 of the USA Today Preps Rankings.

As well as attending their first college classes, the duo spent the first few days in Norman undergoing OU's student-athlete orientation process.

Sooner Profile:  Whitney Hand |  Jasmine Hartman

Q&A WITH THE NEW CLASS

Why did you choose Oklahoma?
Whitney: I really liked the family atmosphere and the environment everytime I came here on a visit. It's a great school and it's also close to home.

Jasmine: I wanted to play in the Big 12 and also stay close to Houston. All my teammates and the coaches are cool and we all got along really well from the first day we met.

What was your first basketball memory?
Whitney: It wasn't very good. I remember playing a game in second grade, my dad was the coach, and I started crying because I wasn't doing very well. I just stopped playing right on the court in the middle of the game. My dad took me outside the gym and scolded me -- at least, that's how I remember it. Things have gotten better since then (laughs).

Jasmine: I was in fourth grade and it was the first year of a Houston-area coed league. I played on the championship team and also played on an all-star team. I remember thinking I might be pretty good at this basketball thing one day.

You've been a college student for a week now. What are your first impressions of OU?
Jasmine: Hectic! The first few days were packed with stuff to do, places to be.

Whitney: Yeah, it was definitely an adjustment. You learn time-management pretty quickly.

What is your jersey number and why did you pick it?
Jasmine: 45. It was the number I wore in high school and it was also Michael Jordan's number he wore for a short time after coming back from his first retirement. Everybody would always take 23 and I wanted to be a little original, so I chose 45.

Whitney: 25. It was the number my dad wore when he played baseball.

What was your biggest accomplishment of the past year?
Whitney: I played at a private school and we won the Mansfield Tournament last year, which always has some of the best teams in Texas. We weren't even supposed to be able to challenge these larger schools. It was just a great experience and a great start to a wonderful season for our team.

Jasmine: I guess leading the nation in assists last year. I didn't even know about it until, near the end of the season, a news reporter was interviewing me and asked how it felt to be leading the nation in assists. I just stood there with a blank look on my face because I had no idea!

What is the most played artist/song on your iPod?
Jasmine: Anything by Lil Wayne.

Whitney: From the Inside Out by Hillsong.