Patty Gasso to be enshrined in statue form on Sept. 13

Patty Gasso is a living legend and the leader of a college softball dynasty. And the 62-year-old head coach of the four-time defending national champion Oklahoma Sooners is about to be immortalized in a very special way.

In 31 seasons at Oklahoma, the highly popular and revered head coach has built the OU softball program into a national power and one of the most decorated programs in college softball history.

Gasso's 1,515 career wins and .811 winning percentage at Oklahoma places her third all-time among college softball head coaches. She has led the Sooners to eight national championships, tied with Arizona for the second most all-time, including an NCAA record four consecutive national titles over the last four years. The Sooners have made NCAA postseason play every season Gasso has been in Norman and have advanced to the Women's College World Series 17 times.

"It's really surreal. I really don't know what to say," Gasso said to reporters when she first learned about the honor earlier this year. "I mean, I'm honored and humbled. I wasn't expecting that at all. It's kind of cool that it will be there a while."

Under Gasso's reign, two different Oklahoma players, P Keilani Ricketts (2012-13) and OF Jocelyn Alo (2021-22) have won back-to-back National Player of the Year honors and 16 Sooners have been named Big 12 Player of the Year. Gasso herself was named Big 12 Coach of the Year 15 times.