How NIL and transfer portal are powering Oklahoma, college softball’s most dominant team

Oklahoma softball made history on Thursday night, earning its third consecutive national title and becoming only the second team in NCAA softball history to do so. The Sooners ended the 2023 season with an overall record of 61-1, and they’ll begin the 2024 season on a 53-game win streak.

While the Sooners have been a staple at the Women’s College World Series since the early 2000s, they are fully utilizing name, image and likeness rules, and the transfer portal to keep their existing talent while acquiring new assets.

“Oklahoma does a really good job. They do a good job in all cylinders from recruiting to developing to meeting the NIL, development of program and team,” Florida State head coach Lonni Alameda said after her team’s second loss to Oklahoma in the 2023 WCWS.

Per On3’s Jeremy Crabtree, three of the top five highest NIL valuations in NCAA softball at the beginning of the 2023 season belonged to Oklahoma players. Catcher Kinzie Hansen, infielder Grace Lyons and pitcher Jordy Bahl have NIL valuations ranging from $46,000 to $62,000, according to On3.

Bahl has a partnership with the Crimson and Cream, an NIL collective focused on OU’s student-athletes. Another NIL collective for Oklahoma athletes is 1Oklahoma, which highlights Lyons and infielder Tiare Jennings on the front page of its website. Both Crimson and Cream and 1Oklahoma allow fans to donate directly to OU softball players on their respective webpages.

Aside from NIL collectives, some Sooners are utilizing their NIL in other ways. Multiple Oklahoma softball players can be found on Cameo, a website where fans can purchase customized video shoutouts from athletes and celebrities.

“They get opportunities to be entrepreneurs while they're student-athletes,” Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso said. “It's unreal. I'm still learning how to manage it the best I can for them.”

Gasso may still be discovering how to best employ NIL for her team, but she seems to have the transfer portal figured out.

Sooners appear to be dominating transfer portal too

Many of Oklahoma’s role players who helped complete the three-peat were not on the roster at the conclusion of the 2022 season.

Former Michigan pitcher Alex Storako finished her lone season at Oklahoma with a 1.15 ERA in 29 appearances, 18 of them starts. Storako pitched most of Thursday night’s win over Florida State that sealed the national title for the Sooners.

Oregon transfer Alyssa Brito had a batting average of .412, which was the second-highest of the Oklahoma roster. Brito also tied Jennings and Jayda Coleman for most home runs on the season, with each athlete hitting 17 a piece. Texas A&M transfer Haley Lee had the second-most home runs with 14 of her own, respectfully.

Transfers have made an impact on Oklahoma, even prior to the 2023 season. Taylon Snow, who spent two years at Auburn before finishing her collegiate career at Oklahoma, had a .333 batting average, four RBIs and one home run in the 2022 WCWS. Jana Johns was Oklahoma's starter on third base for the 2021 and 2022 seasons after three years at South Carolina.

With outstanding regular-season and postseason records, plus NIL, it’s easy to see how Norman is a prime destination for softball players to take full advantage of their skills.

“I wanted to do something big and be a part of something big,” Lee, the Aggie transfer, said to Softball America. “So I decided that OU was going to do that for me.”

While the Sooners have yet to announce any new additions to their roster, they already have plenty of talented players in the portal to choose from. Infielder Taryn Kern, the 2023 Big Ten Player and Freshman of the Year, announced this week that she will be transferring from Indiana. Auburn’s Bri Ellis, 2022 SEC Freshman of the Year, also hit the portal.

Even though Gasso’s next moves are unclear yet, there’s no doubt that the Sooners can truly boast about reloading, not rebuilding. Oklahoma is showing that there is a way in the NIL era to not only win, but dominate, while engaging the transfer portal and developing young talent at the same time.

“I think the one thing Oklahoma does, and we all try to do, is they keep getting better every year,” Alameda said. “ What they were in championships a couple years ago, they're a better version of themselves now. We all have to do that.”