There are few things to compare to the college softball dynasty Patty Gasso has built at Oklahoma.
The Sooners' reign as four-time defending national champions ended Monday night with a 3-2 loss to Texas Tech in the semifinals of the 2025 Women's College World Series. The streak was ended, but the dynasty certainly was not.
“Tip of the hat to Oklahoma,” Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco said after the game. “As everybody in this room knows, what they’ve done is historic, legendary. When I was a kid, we grew up talking about John Wooden and UCLA basketball. And I still think of John Wooden and UCLA basketball when I think of college basketball.
“That’s what Patty Gasso has done and what Oklahoma has done. Great champions. I just want to be sure that I compliment them. And what an honor to get to play them in the last game of the winners bracket to get to the finals. Just a privilege and opportunity for my kids to play against a team that well-coached, that talented and just what Oklahoma is.”
Gerry Glasco compares Patty Gasso's Oklahoma softball to John Wooden's UCLA basketball
Wooden is the epitome of great coaching today, no matter the sport. To be in the same realm means a coach has reached legendary status, and Gasso certainly has with a statue of herself outside of the stadium she still coaches in.
In 27 years as UCLA's men's basketball coach, Wooden won 10 national titles, including seven in a row between 1967 and 1973. Like the Sooners, the Bruins' streak also ended with a third-place finish before Wooden won one more in 1975 before retiring with a career .804 winning percentage.
Gasso has already surpassed Wooden in years at the same program after finishing her 31st season as OU's softball coach and no sign of walking away any time soon. The Sooners, too, could likely recover next season with another national title, and maybe even another streak with an extremely young roster this year.
The Sooners have won eight national championships total under Gasso. Seven have come since 2013 and OU also won back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017.
Under Gasso, the Sooners have dominated softball the last two decades, much like the Bruins did basketball in the 1960s and '70s.
“I appreciate those comments,” Gasso said when asked about Glasco's comparison. “Not warranted, but appreciated for sure. I don’t even, honestly, think about that. I just do my job. That’s all I’m trying to do is turn girls into women and help them become elite softball athletes but, at the same time, make sure they learn about life so that they become good mothers, they’re good daughters, they’re good friends. That they try to live the right way and do the right things.”
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