A court ruling has caused even more roster chaos in college sports. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
In response to the NCAA's new "5-in-5" rule, a federal judge on Friday ruled that all athletes from the 2022 recruiting class who just exhausted their fourth year of college eligibility this past year are suddenly eligible for a fifth season this upcoming year. This new five-year eligibility wasn't actually supposed to go into effect until the 2027 high school recruiting class.
The NCAA will fight this ruling, but for now, athletes that fall in this situation can't go to a different school but can return to where they just finished their careers for a fifth year.
Four players from Patty Gasso's 2026 roster fit this mold of being able to return. However, all of them have signed some sort of pro contract, which doesn't really carry much weight, and not all would be smart re-additions for Gasso.
Of the four players listed, Ailana Agbayani is the least likely to return to the Sooners as the only one drafted by an AUSL team. However, there's no question compensation from OU, even while maneuvering revenue caps, would match, if not be even better, than her contract in the AUSL.
Agbayani had been the Sooners' everyday second baseman the past two seasons and would likely assume that role again since that seems to be one of Gasso's few depth chart questions for 2027. However, that could ruffle feathers with young talent like Ki'ele Ho-Ching or Ori Mailo, who were expecting to get their opportunity to show what they're made of.
With the Sooners in need of a true ace (sound familiar?), Gasso last year brought in Sydney Berzon from LSU, but she was somewhat disappointing in her lone season at Oklahoma. She had a 6-2 record and 2.63 ERA in 25 appearances and 10 starts while never taking hold of the Sooners' ace role.
Those numbers certainly aren't bad, though, and she would be a boost to the Sooners' pitching staff even in 2027. However, depth isn't what OU needs at the position. The Sooners need a true ace to take control.
Abby Dayton would be yet another returning starter in the 2027 lineup as last season's everyday left fielder while earning All-SEC Second-Team honors. She hit .386Â with 51 runs, 13 doubles, eight home runs and 43 RBI.
The Sooners aren't lacking talent in the outfield and would even be overflowing with it if Dayton was back in the mix. But is it really a bad problem to have too much talent, especially at a position where three players can start?
Kierston Deal had only 16 appearances as a senior and put up a 7.50 ERA. If athletes in this situation could transfer, then this could have set up a great opportunity for redemption somewhere else for Deal. However, for the Sooners, Deal would just take away from younger pitchers that need innings in hopes one of them can emerge as the ace Oklahoma needs.
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