Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso has made it clear that her dynasty has been built with elite talent.
The Sooners have had enough great players wear crimson and cream that they've won eight national championships, including the last four in a row. With the Women's College World Series here as the Sooners pursue their fifth straight title, Gasso was asked by NCAA Softball to make her Mt. Rushmore of OU softball players from her 31 seasons as head coach.
Somehow, Gasso was able to narrow it down to four names on the spot.
Patty Gasso's Mt. Rushmore of Sooners
Keilani Ricketts
Ricketts pitched for Gasso in 2010-13 and led the Sooners to their first national championship in 13 years in 2013. She is still the Sooners' career leader in wins and strikeouts. Ricketts was also a star at the plate and hit 50 career home runs. She's one of only three college softball players to ever have 100 wins, 1,000 strikeouts and 50 home runs in their career.
Jocelyn Alo
Alo would be the newest addition to this list after finishing her OU career in 2022 as the NCAA leader in career home runs. Alo ended her college career as a two-time USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, two-time Softball America Player of the Year, three-time First-Team All-America, two-time Big 12 Player of the Year, the Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year in 2022 and even more.
Alo was also part of the Sooners' national championship teams in 2021 and 2022, the first two of OU's four in a row.
Paige Parker
Before OU was winning four national championships in a row, Parker led the Sooners to back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017 as their ace. She still leads OU with four career perfect games.
"Paige Parker did some amazing things," Gasso said. "We won a World Series -- we were in the finals with Auburn -- she pitched I think every inning of almost every game that postseason. It was just such a clutch performance."
Today, Parker is an assistant coach at Utah.
Lauren Chamberlain
Somehow, Gasso almost forgot about Lauren Chamberlain, which is how you know there's a lot of great names to go through. Chamberlain was a staple in OU's lineup at first base in 2012-15. She holds OU's and the Big 12's career records in RBI, runs, walks and total bases. She's also the NCAA career leader in slugging percentage at .948 and hit 95 home runs during her career.
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