The North Carolina Forest Service and
area fire departments are responded to a large wildfire on Friday in the Shallotte area, according to
Brunswick County officials.

Smoke
from the fire may impact visibility in the area near Old Georgetown Road and Hale Swamp Road. Officials are asking
drivers to use caution when traveling nearby and to avoid the area if
possible to allow fire personnel and first responders to work safely.

According to the North Carolina Forest Service wildfire viewer, the fire has grown to approximately 300 acres and is 60% contained as of 11:20 p.m. Friday.

NORMAN —When Oklahoma headed into the SEC two years ago, the Sooners’ softball team appeared to be in the best position to compete immediately in the conference.

Patty Gasso’s team has certainly acquitted themselves well during its first two seasons in the league — winning back-to-back regular-season championships.

But the Sooners came into the league having won four consecutive Women’s College World Series titles and Texas has now won back-to-back WCWS championships.

While softball won’t be the most affected by Oklahoma’s athletic department receiving a full SEC revenue distribution share in this fiscal year, there certainly will be an impact.

The department received just $12.5 million in conference payouts, while fully vested members in the conference received approximately $72.4 million each.

The $1.03 billion total conference distribution figures to grow in the coming years.

In the fifth in our series on how Sooners’ programs will be affected by the department receiving such a share, we take a look at the OU softball program:

NIL, Roster Building

Softball was one of six Sooners’ athletics programs to be included in the direct revenue-sharing payments made possible by the House vs. NCAA settlement.

While football takes up the great majority of that money, with the basketball programs using much of the remaining balance, softball players at OU do get direct revenue-sharing payments.

In an environment where not every softball program is part of that division of a set total, that gives the Sooners an advantage.

And while NIL money isn’t extremely plentiful — outside of Texas Tech — small changes can lead the big results.

But Gasso has been much more focused on high school recruiting than added big-time talent in the transfer portal in recent years.

Last season, the Sooners did add pitchers Sydney Berzon and Miali Guachino but the most impactful additions to the roster were a group of freshmen headlined by Kendall Wells and Kai Minor.

This offseason, it appears if Gasso is taking a similar approach.

Oklahoma added outfielders Macie Harter of Middle Tennessee State and Adi Hansen from Southern Idaho to compete for a spot — with incoming freshman Payton Westra — to play alongside Minor and Ella Parker.

With Isabela Emerling’s eligibility done with and Riley Zache transferring, the Sooners needed to add a backup catcher to play behind Wells.

Finding a serviceable backup who is willing to transfer without the guarantee of much playing time — especially with several other options at first base — proved to be difficult.

Oklahoma ultimately added Loyola Chicago catcher Abbie Gregus. Gregus hit just .195 last year as a redshirt junior.

The Sooners would’ve liked to have added an arm in the portal, but not only was there not a pitcher like NiJaree Canady available this time around, there wasn’t much in the way of options that would’ve been improvements over what Oklahoma already had on the roster.

Plus the Sooners signed pitchers Keegan Baker, Malaya Majam-Finch and EK Smith in the 2026 class.

The freeing up of additional money, though, figures to give the program a chance to compete for top-line talent when it is available, and will provide considerable help in retaining vital roster pieces.

Oklahoma has generally done well in keeping players who were expected to play significant roles moving forward, though Kasidi Pickering did transfer over this offseason — to Texas Tech.

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Facilities

With Love’s Field just wrapping up its third season, and maintaining its presence as the crown jewel of college softball, there aren’t much in the way of major upgrades to make.

But there can always be small tweaks to the facilities — especially when it comes to the team spaces. From updated technology to improved training and workout facilities, there are ways to keep the facility moving forward as other programs race to emulate OU.

Then there’s the area just south of the stadium, which has been filled with plenty of dirt and some grass, that could stand to be upgraded to give the walk up to that park a much grander feel.