Oklahoma formula

Patty Gasso is to the University of Oklahoma’s softball team what the late John Wooden was to UCLA men’s basketball.

Wooden was the devout Baptist head coach who led UCLA to 10 NCAA championships in 27 seasons, including seven straight titles from 1967 to 1973. At one point, the Indiana native guided the Bruins to 88 consecutive victories—the longest win streak in NCAA men’s basketball history.

Gasso’s accomplishments at Oklahoma are remarkably similar: In 31 seasons helming the Sooners’ softball program, she has won eight NCAA titles—six in the last eight seasons. The last four crowns have come consecutively, an NCAA record. And like Wooden, Gasso boasts her sport’s longest winning streak—71 games.

As of May 10, Oklahoma was ranked second in the country in ESPN.com/USA Softball’s Top 25 poll, had clinched its first Southeastern Conference (SEC) regular-season title after nearly 30 seasons in the Big 12, and was gunning to reach the Women’s College World Series (WCWS) for the 18th time under Gasso. Her achievements are a huge reason why USA Softball in February tapped her to coach the women’s national team at the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Under Gasso, Christianity has become as much a part of Oklahoma softball as its crimson-and-cream uniforms. She and her chaplain drew from Bible stories involving Moses and David to inspire Oklahoma’s title runs in 2016 and 2017, respectively, according to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). Many conversations with her players “focus on what it takes to be a godly woman rather than hitting, pitching or fielding techniques,” the FCA reported in 2018. And Gasso’s players went viral in 2023 when they used the platform created by Oklahoma’s success to boldly proclaim the gospel via national media.

Some might wonder how Gasso could accomplish this at a public university—especially one sued by a former volleyball player whose coaches allegedly punished her for not being “woke” enough. As ESPN reported of Gasso’s team in 2022, “Most, but not all, players attend pregame chapel. … Whether by coincidence, or influence, or some combination of both, … the personal choice for most of these players is to opt in.”

Coaching softball is a family affair for Gasso: Her husband Jim, to whom she has been wed for nearly 40 years, is the head coach at Mid-America Christian University, a small private college in Oklahoma City. The couple’s oldest son, J.T., is on her staff at Oklahoma, and youngest son D.J. is an assistant at the University of Arkansas.

Gasso nearly left Oklahoma in 2000 due to the strain of a long-distance marriage: Jim had returned to California to coach soccer at a junior college. She felt led to stay, though, after leading the Sooners to their first WCWS title that year. Jim later rejoined her in Oklahoma.

“That’s when God really made it clear,” Gasso told the FCA about her 2000 season. “You need to stay here, and this is where you need to do My work. I started to understand that my job is more to open the door for Christ to win souls. It’s not about me.”

She’s admittedly lost sight of that at times: In a Guideposts essay, Gasso recalled becoming so consumed with winning that “I wasn’t succeeding as a coach or as a mom.” After seeking God in prayer following an emotional breakdown in 2010, however, Gasso determined her players would leave Oklahoma “knowing I cared about them and, more important, that God cared about them too.”

Oklahoma has reached the WCWS final nine times since then, winning seven.