1-23-2024
Entering her 30th season at the University of Oklahoma in 2024, NFCA Hall of Fame head coach Patty Gasso has molded the OU softball program into a national power and permanently placed herself among the elite college softball coaches in the country.
Oklahoma has won seven national championships, winning in 2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022 and most recently in 2023. OU is one of just three programs in NCAA history to win more than two national titles. She’s reached the Women’s College World Series 16 times during her tenure, and in the process, advanced to the postseason in each one of her 29 seasons (no tournament in 2020).
With 33 seasons as a head coach to her name, Gasso has a career collegiate coaching record of 1,617-404-3 (.799) and holds an overall record of 1,456-345-2 (.808) at the University of Oklahoma.
She has won more Big 12 games (394-87; .819) than any coach in the league’s history and has more than twice as many overall wins as any other coach in OU history. OU has claimed 15 Big 12 regular season titles, including an unprecedented 11 straight since the 2012 season, and eight conference tournament titles under her direction. Gasso’s Sooner teams have finished second or higher 23 different times in the 27 years since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996.
Numerous Sooner players have prospered under Gasso’s tutelage and garnered national, regional and conference recognition. Most recently, Jocelyn Alo helped lead the Sooners to back-to-back titles en route to winning consecutive USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year awards in 2021 and 2022. Keilani Ricketts was also a two-time USA Softball Player of the Year in 2012 and 2013. Gasso has recruited and coached 79 All-Americans, 145 All-Region honors and 192 all-conference selections at OU.
In the Big 12 era, Sooners have been named Big 12 Player of the Year a total of 16 times and Big 12 Pitcher of the Year nine times, while nine have been selected as Big 12 Freshman of the Year and one as Big 12 Newcomer. In 2010, Amber Flores became the first player in league history to earn Player of the Year honors twice, Shelby Pendley joined her in 2015 before Alo claimed the honor in consecutive seasons in 2021 and 2022.
The OU softball success under Gasso has also spilled over into the classroom where the Sooners have been honored with 170 academic all-conference honors. 20 of those have gone on to become Academic All-Americans, including Lana Moran, the 2000 Academic All-American of the Year.
Gasso and her staff have consistently been recognized for their efforts on and off the field. The staff was awarded three consecutive Speedline/NFCA Midwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year awards from 1999-2001 and received the national honor in 2000, 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2023. Gasso and staff have claimed the regional honor in 15 of their 29 seasons with the most recent award coming in 2023. In addition, Gasso has been named the Big 12 Coach of the Year 15 times: 1996, 1999, 2000, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023.
Chair of the Day
Frank Keating was appointed to the Regents by Gov. Mary Fallin in 2017. He was formerly the president and CEO of the American Bankers Association and, prior to that, was president and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers. His years in the private sector were preceded by three decades of law enforcement and public service, culminating in two terms as Oklahoma’s 25th governor. Over the course of 30 years, Keating also served as an FBI agent, U.S. Attorney, state prosecutor, and Oklahoma House and Senate member, including service as the Republican Senate leader. He also served Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush in the Treasury, Justice, and Housing departments. In 1993, Keating returned to Oklahoma to successfully run for governor and was re-elected in 1998. As governor at the time of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City, he helped raise more than $6 million in scholarships for the nearly 200 children left with only one or no parents. Keating has served as a member of numerous boards, including the National Archives and the Jamestown Foundation, and was chairman of the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Advisory Board of Washington’s Mt. Vernon. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and his law degree from OU.