Patty Gasso’s statue dedication is latest chapter in OU softball ‘love story’
Patty Gasso stepped behind the lectern set up in front of Love’s Field and the discomfort was palpable.
Gasso had listened to a string of speeches from the voice of OU softball, Chris Plank, to OU President Joseph Harroz to athletic director Joe Castiglione to two of her former captains, Kelsey Arnold and Lynnsie Elam-Phillips.
She’d watched a video tribute made in her honor.
It was just time for Gasso to speak before the cover was pulled from the statue of the legendary Sooners softball coach that was unveiled Friday afternoon.
“This is like a love story,” Gasso said to start her speech. “I’m watching a love story where they’re staring right at me.”
Gasso is a legend by any measure.
She’s coached the Sooners to eight Women’s College World Series titles, including the last four.
She has won more than 1,500 games, including an NCAA-record 71 consecutive in a streak that ended early in the 2024 season.
Gasso has been the driving force in growing OU softball from a program that played on a city-owned field where the players had to clean up trash before practice to Love’s Field, by far the biggest campus stadium in college softball.
Now, Gasso has a statue.
In front of the stadium’s main entrance, the larger-than-life statue features Gasso with an outstretched right arm, awaiting a hand slap from a player rounding third after a home run.
It was a pose Gasso chose, working alongside trusted confidants and sculptor Brian Hanlon.
“I just wanted it to be very simple and very me but also representing our entire program,” Gasso said after the ceremony. “I don’t want you to go, ‘Oh, there’s Patty Gasso.’ I wanted to represent Marita Hynes. I wanted to represent Jocelyn Alo, Keilani Ricketts. Anybody who’s ever been here, I hope they feel that is kind of more of a representation of us instead of me.”
Gasso said she hoped fans would make a habit of slapping the statue’s hand as they entered the stadium.
It’ll be a bit before anyone can slap Gasso’s right hand.
She recently underwent surgery after breaking her right arm tripping over a sandbag on a bike path at a California beach over the summer.
