Latest news with #UniversityOfOklahoma
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lisa Leslie surprises Aaliyah Chavez with the Gatorade Player of the Year Award
WNBA legend Lisa Leslie surprised Aaliyah Chavez, a Texas native who will play basketball for the University of Oklahoma, with the Gatorade Player of the Year Award. Lisa Leslie surprises Aaliyah Chavez with the Gatorade Player of the Year Award originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Independent
08-07-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione announces retirement plans
Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione announced Tuesday that the upcoming academic year will be his last in charge of the department, with an official retirement planned for June 2028. Joined by his family and peers, the 67-year-old Castiglione spoke at a news conference to explain his decision to step down after 27 years of leadership. 'In the past couple of months, I've moved from a fleeting thought to some deep life reflections. We all do that from time to time, thinking about my career, my life journey, my family, my faith, I guess you could say life itself,' Castiglione said. 'When is the right time? When is the right time to pass the baton? When is the best time to make an announcement like this? I'm not sure if it's ever perfect or predictable, but they always say you'll know.' Castiglione will help the university with its search for a replacement during the 2025-2026 academic year before transitioning into a special projects role for a couple of years. 'I wanted to give the university plenty of runway to facilitate a search as I enter my final year as AD," he said. "I'm really grateful they've asked that I'd stay on in a role for a couple of years, not only to help with the transition, but there's some really special and key projects for our future here at Oklahoma that I'm going to be very proud to help the whole staff and the university at large see to fruition.' The Sooners during Castiglione's tenure won 26 national titles, nine of which belonged to men's gymnastics and eight to women's softball. In 2024, he helped orchestrate a move to the Southeastern Conference after 30 years of competing in the Big 12. Oklahoma aims to find a successor who will build off his success and help guide the program through the revenue-sharing era in college sports. Board of Regents chair Anita Holloway acknowledged finding a replacement is no easy task. 'Needless to say, Joe is irreplaceable,' Holloway said. 'But one thing I will leave you with today is Sooner Nation, you have my and the entire Board of Regents' personal commitment that we will make sure that we're hiring the next best athletic director in the country. We want to continue the legacy that Joe Castiglione has set for us: a performance of integrity, and national championships.' ___
Irish Times
21-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Co Louth's Gavin Tiernan defeated in Amateur Championship final on last hole
American amateur Ethan Fang has beaten Co Louth's Gavin Tiernan 1 up in the Amateur Championship final at Royal St George's after a titanic 36-hole contest. The win earns the world number seven and University of Oklahoma student a place in next month's Open Championship at Portrush and an invite to the Masters next April. Tiernan had been the first player to reach the final after coming through the strokeplay pre-qualifying, and played 139 holes this week before his 36-hole final on Saturday, and was a surprise package to make it there at 1,340th in the amateur world rankings. There was no more than one hole between two players for much of this ding-dong battle, with Tiernan leading for much of the first 18, his highlight a superb tee shot to a few feet at the 16th that enabled him to lead 1 up after 18. READ MORE Fang won the first hole of the second 18 holes with a par and then took the lead for the first time after 23 holes after another Tiernan bogey. However, hitting the par 5 seventh green in two enabled the Co Louth player to get it back to all-square. After a few more back and forths, Fang took seemingly a decisive 2 up lead by taking the 14th and 15th holes, before Tiernan holed two big putts on 16 and 17 to bring the match all-square heading up the 36th hole of the day. But Fang closed out the match with a brilliant iron approach to five feet as he holed the putt to become the first American winner of the Amateur since Drew Weaver in 2007. Tiernan was looking to become the ninth winner of the competition, which has been running since 1885. Previous winners include Sergio Garcia and José María Olazábal.
Irish Times
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Gavin Tiernan aims to make history after reaching Amateur Championship final
Gavin Tiernan, the 19-year-old Co Louth player, will aim to become a history-maker and also earn places in next month's 153rd Open and next year's Masters tournament after reaching the final of the Amateur Championship at Royal St Georges in Sandwich, England. Tiernan, the first player to reach the final after coming through the stroke play pre-qualifying, has played 139 holes so far this week in reaching the final where world amateur number seven Ethan Fang of the United States provides the opposition. After defeating Estonia's Richard Teder in the quarter-final, his third time to close the deal on the 18th hole, Tiernan returned to the links in the afternoon to defeat Italy's Riccardo Fantinelli where, having turned for home level, the he won the 10th, 12th, 14th and 15th holes for a 4 and 3 win. Fang, a student at the University of Oklahoma, is aiming to become the first American winner of the Amateur since Drew Weaver in 2007, while Tiernan is looking to become the first Irish winner since James Sugrue won at Portmarnock in 2019. READ MORE Tiernan – 1,340th in the world amateur rankings – has played more golf than anyone, reaching the final from an original field of 288 players and taking a superbly positive attitude into each match: 'If you'd told me at the start of the week I'd be in the final, I would have been over the moon. I'm just really enjoying it, taking it one shot at a time, and just having fun out there. That's all I'm trying to do.' 'I hit it way better this afternoon. Off the tee I was way better. I hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens. I think this morning it was a little bit scrappier but this morning was tighter as well. I wasn't up the whole match until 18 when I won,' Tiernan said. 'You don't need to go and take a tonne of birdies. If you're hitting it to the middle of the green all the time, you're just going to bore them to death. That's what I've been trying to do this week, and it's worked so far. 'In my head, I'm the best player here. It might not be the truth, but that's what I believe. It doesn't really matter who I'm playing against. Really I'm just playing against the golf course. Playing against myself.' Gavin Tiernan during the semi-finals of the Amateur Championship at Royal St George's in Sandwich, England. Photograph: Oisín Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images Meanwhile, Shane Lowry struggled to a second round 73, which included three successive bogeys from the 10th to the 13th, to reach the midpoint of the Travelers championship at TPC River Highlands on five over 145, close to the tail end of the field. In the Blot Play9 tournament in France on the HotelPlanner Tour (formerly the Challenge Tour), Dubliner Max Kennedy followed up his opening 60 with a 76 to reach the halfway stage on 136 in tied-third, six shots behind leader James Morrison.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Patty Gasso to make broadcast debut for Athletes Unlimited Softball League
There's not much Patty Gasso hasn't done in the softball world, but she's found something new to try. The U.S. national coach who has led the University of Oklahoma to eight national titles will be on a broadcast team for the first time. She will assist Amanda Scarborough, Chuckie Kempf and Savanna Collins when the Talons play the Volts in an Athletes Unlimited Softball League game Friday in Norman, Oklahoma. Advertisement Gasso, who has coached at Oklahoma since 1995, is taking advantage of the fact that the AUSL is using a traveling format in its first year and is visiting Oklahoma's home field for a series. She's excited about the opportunity to help with a game that will broadcast on and several regional affiliates and feels she'd regret not giving it a shot. 'It's something that I would wonder if I would be good at or if it's something I might try to do in the future,' she said. 'So that intrigues me a little bit. But I just like to talk softball. And normally, I'm in the middle of it, so I'm not really able to talk about it.' Gasso said she sees the action differently now that she'll guide Team USA into the 2028 Summer Olympics. 'Now, there's a different kind of interest,' she said. 'Now I'm watching and going, 'Okay, I see what we could do to help this certain athlete. I see something they're doing maybe in their swing that we know we could help.'' Advertisement Gasso will be watching three of her former Oklahoma players. Sydney Romero plays for the Talons and Tiare Jennings and Sam Landry play for the Volts. Landry, the No. 1 pick in the AUSL draft, led the Sooners to the Women's College World Series semifinals earlier this month. Gasso said she's been watching the league closely and studies each game. She likes the fact that Athletes Unlimited added a season with a traditional format to its season with an individual scoring format, giving her a better idea of how the best players compete in a team format at the pro level. 'They care,' she said. 'They care about winning. And that allows you to watch a good product, because they're all fighting for it. They're fighting for something. And I never felt that until really AUSL came into the equation and had great structure.' Part of that structure comes from USA Softball's support. Craig Cress, USA Softball's CEO, said Gasso adds to that. Advertisement 'What her and her staff have done in Oklahoma and what they bring and what I've already seen us be able to do with some of the stuff that we've done with national team athletes already — we're just really lucky that she has that same great desire to be a part of our program as she does to be an Oklahoma Sooner,' Cress said. ___ AP sports: Cliff Brunt, The Associated Press
