Oklahoma State's Kenny Gajewski revisits Kelly Maxwell transfer to OU softball: 'It hurt'

STILLWATER — As he was asked the question, Oklahoma State softball coach Kenny Gajewski seemed to sense the wound reopening.

Did it hurt him when pitcher Kelly Maxwell left OSU and transferred to rival Oklahoma for her final season?

Gajewski looked at the ground as he gathered his thoughts before raising his head to answer.

“Yeah,” he said on Wednesday at the end of a 30-minute interview session to kick off the Cowgirls’ fall scrimmage season that begins this week. “Yeah, I mean, it hurt.”

Then the coach went on to revisit comments he made over the summer about the future of Maxwell’s connection to OSU.

“My only disappointment for Kelly,” Gajewski said last month at an OSU athletic donor event, “is that she went to OU, because now she’s lost everything here that she’s ever done. And as long as I’m here, it’ll be hard for her to come back here. That’s just the way it is.”

More: What does Oklahoma State softball's pitching staff look like after Kelly Maxwell's exit?

The comments stirred some OU softball fans into a frenzy, which Gajewski acknowledged before adding more depth to his opinion on Maxwell, who was with the Cowgirls for each of their last four trips to the Women’s College World Series.

“I felt like the only place she could go and lose her legacy here would be OU,” Gajewski said on Wednesday. “I’m not mad at her. She gave us everything.

“I’m not stepping back from what I said. I wish I wouldn’t have said as long as I’m the head coach here,’ because that sounded very selfish and about me. But what I meant by that… I think it’ll be very hard for her to come back here as long as I’m the coach here. She has a heart. A big heart. So you’re gonna feel weird ever wanting to come back here, if that makes sense. I think that’s a normal feeling that we would go through.”

Gajewski knew Maxwell would be a target for most any college program, especially after OSU pitching coach John Bargfeldt announced his retirement in June.

And he admitted he knew hiring former Cowgirl Carrie Eberle — who was Maxwell’s teammate for the 2020-21 seasons — as Bargfeldt’s replacement might escalate Maxwell’s desire to transfer.

More: Oklahoma State softball: Tracking Cowgirls' arrivals, departures via transfer portal

“Her transferring, I get it,” Gajewski said. “I knew it could happen. I could’ve probably asked her, ‘Hey, who do you want me to hire?’ And if I had hired them, she would have stayed. But I don’t know she’s in a position to tell me that. She’s still a young kid. So I’m gonna do what I think is best, even if it meant her deciding to leave.

“I wish she would’ve gone somewhere else. I mean, we’re trying to beat those guys and now we gotta face her? That sucks. But I’m not cheering against her. I don’t wish her one ounce of harm. I don’t wish any of that, but it’s different now. And that’s the only thing. If she was at a different school, it would have been weird, but maybe not different.”

In an offseason that involved changes to his coaching staff and the graduation of several veteran starters, Gajewski called the Maxwell situation “one of the hardest things I’ve gone through here, to be very honest.”

“It’s just life,” he said. “It’s where we’re going. It’s not gonna change. It’s gonna happen again. I’ve been very frank. We’ve benefited out of the portal, and as long as it’s here, we’re gonna try to continue that.

“Whatever the rules are, we’re gonna play by those rules. She played by those rules. She was honest and up front. I have zero issues with that.”

Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at swright@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @ScottWrightOK. Sign up for the Oklahoma State Cowboys newsletter to access more OSU coverage. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSU's Kenny Gajewski revisits Kelly Maxwell transfer to OU softball