On Wednesday, six Sooners were named to USA Softball’s National Player of the Year watch list.
Just a week after seven University of Oklahoma softball student-athletes were named to the 2024 Preseason All-Big 12 Team, the Sooners received more recognition. On Wednesday, six Sooners were named to USA Softball’s National Player of the Year watch list.
The prestigious award aims to recognize outstanding athletic achievement across Division I female collegiate softball players from across the nation. The 2024 Top 50 Watch List highlights athletes from 28 universities and six athletic conferences.
Infielders Alyssa Brito and Tiare Jennings, outfielder Jayda Coleman, catcher Kinzie Hansen, and pitchers Kelly Maxwell and Nicole May made the list for the Sooners.
Oklahoma’s six nominees are the most throughout college softball. The highest is UCLA with four athletes, and Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, and LSU tabbing three athletes apiece. Additionally, eight universities are highlighted by two athletes on the list, while 14 collegiate programs tally one.
It’s clear even though Oklahoma is replacing Jordy Bahl, Grace Lyons and Haley Lee, they’re still considered the top program in the country. The Sooners’ talented freshman class and diverse number of transfers will help as well.
Last year it was Clemson’s Valerie Cagle who took home the award. The most recent Sooner to win was Jocelyn Alo in the 2021 and 2022 season.
This season will feature multiple players who finished as finalists for the award last year. Among the 50 athletes returning to the spotlight of the prestigious award is 2023 Player of the Year, Valerie Cagle (Clemson), along with 2023 Top 3 Finalists Skylar Wallace (Florida) and Maya Brady (UCLA) — while four additional 2023 Top 10 Finalists also return to the list including Jordy Bahl (Nebraska), Jayda Coleman (Oklahoma), Tiare Jennings (Oklahoma) and Kiki Milloy (Tennessee).
On this preseason list, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) leads the athletic conferences with 21 athletes, followed by the Pac-12 Conference with 11, Big 12 Conference with 10, and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with seven. Also represented is the American Athletic Conference (AAC) with two athletes and the Big Ten Conference with one.
The Top 25 Finalists for the 2024 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award will be announced on May 1. While an athlete does not have to be on the Watch List to be considered for the Top 25, the eventual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will come from the Top 25 Finalists. The Top 10 Finalists will be revealed May 15, with the Top 3 being released May 20. The 2024 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be announced prior to the NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS).
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