Oklahoma

How Oklahoma’s Jocelyn Alo, Facing Elimination, Found Another Gear

Published

3 years ago

June 6, 2022

How Oklahoma’s Jocelyn Alo, Facing Elimination, Found Another Gear

OKLAHOMA CITY — Monday might have been Jocelyn Alo’s final as a collegiate softball participant.

The highest-seeded Oklahoma Sooners dropped Sport 1 towards the UCLA Bruins, placing the nation’s wire-to-wire No. 1-ranked staff on the point of elimination.

Unbothered by the stakes, Alo ensured her staff’s keep in Oklahoma Metropolis was not going to be reduce quick.

Probably the most explosive hitter within the historical past of school softball delivered along with her again towards the wall, hitting 4-for-4 and driving in seven RBIs by means of a three-run bomb and a soul-crushing grand slam within the Sooners’ 15-0 victory over UCLA.

Clearly, the stress of the second by no means fazed Alo.

Headed into the competition, the Sooner slugger mentioned she was solely targeted on the scouting report and recreation plan to assault UCLA’s pitching workers.

“Simply controlling the strike zone and simply type of not attempting to be a giant hero in these moments (was the plan),” Alo mentioned after the second contest. “Particularly when your backs are towards the wall.

“Simply going on the market and simply persevering with to play our recreation.”

John E. Hoover / AllSooners.com

Jocelyn Alo hit a pair of towering house runs on Monday

The tremendous senior punctuated Oklahoma’s dominant win on Monday with a grand slam

With the victory, the Sooners superior to the WCWS championship collection for the third straight yr

Gasso mentioned she didn’t discover something totally different about her star within the dugout both. All Alo dropped at the desk was the identical burning ardour she takes into each single contest.

“She will get so fired up for her household, for our staff,” Gasso mentioned. “She’s essentially the most assured younger woman I’ve ever met in my life, to the purpose the place you might be, like, ‘OK, do not say that, Jocy.’ However that is her. She wears it.

“… It’s to not type of stick it in anyone’s face, it is extra about her pleasure. She’s simply actually uncooked with pleasure and love for the sport, and her exuberance simply is enjoyable to observe.”

UCLA head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez had a front-row seat to Alo’s dominant efficiency, and all she might do was tip her visor to the OU star.

“It is simply spectacular,” Inouye-Perez mentioned after the doubleheader. “The energy issue is one factor. There’s several types of hitters which have nice arms and so they have some which are actually sturdy. I feel she has each. She has the power.

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“I bought a straight view of her house run, and I am, like, ‘Oh, that is going to — please let it tail foul.’ And, sadly, it did not.

“Simply loads of respect for her. She’s a high quality hitter. She’s a powerful woman. She’s bought nice arms. She’s a tricky out, and he or she performs on the stage in a giant means and he or she bought us as we speak. … Clearly, there is a cause why she’s the Participant of the 12 months.”

Alo’s seven RBIs tied the Ladies’s School World Collection single-game document set by Washington’s Niki Williams again in 2009.

With 10 RBIs whole on the WCWS, Alo sits only one behind the all-time document set by UCLA’s Andrea Harrison again in 2010.

However in Patty Gasso’s summation, Alo’s affect on the game goes properly past serving to the Sooners attain their third straight WCWS championship collection.

“I feel Jocelyn Alo is a giant cause why this sport has gone to a different degree,” Gasso mentioned. “Individuals come right here to observe her like she’s Babe Ruth. They pay to see Jocelyn Alo, and … I hope we see one other Jocelyn Alo.

“I hope she’s a Sooner after we see her, however that is how she — she has a love for the sport, a confidence. … If you’re round it, it is simply to see that and to be round it, it simply bleeds throughout our staff. All of them need just a little piece of what Jocy has.”

Alo’s profession will finish a technique or one other by the point the mud settles on Thursday or Friday night time.

And no matter if she goes out a two-time Nationwide Champion or not, Alo’s title shall be remembered for years to come back.

“It has been such an honor (to educate her),” Gasso mentioned. “(Alo) desires to exit her means and simply depart her mark. She retains saying, ‘I need to depart my mark.’

“She’s left her mark. She’s achieved it. Proper now it is simply icing on the cake for her.”

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma State LB Jeff Roberson Headed to Big 10 School

Published

7 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

Oklahoma State LB Jeff Roberson Headed to Big 10 School

Oklahoma State’s most recent transfer portal departure has already found a new home.

On Monday, OSU linebacker Jeff Roberson announced he was entering the transfer portal and looking to close his career elsewhere. Roberson wasted no time finding his next school, as he committed to Minnesota on Thursday.

Roberson began his career at OSU in 2020 and mostly played on special teams and as a backup throughout the first few years of his career. After missing the entire 2022 season with an injury, he came back in 2023 to play largely the same role.

However, his luck changed in 2024. With so many injuries throughout the OSU defense, the Cowboys needed players to step up at every position, and Roberson took advantage. In 2024, Roberson played in every game and finished with 58 tackles, nine tackles for loss and an interception. Before entering the transfer portal, Roberson’s numbers from 2024 would have made him OSU’s leading returning tackler.

Roberson’s departure was about as surprising as any move at OSU this offseason. Considering he had spent the first five seasons of his career in Stillwater and finally carved out a sizeable role last season, it appeared Roberson would carry that momentum into 2025 as a leader of the OSU defense.

Instead, he used his extra opportunity and leap to find a better situation as OSU overhauled its coaching staff and continues to bring in various defensive players through the transfer portal. However, going to Minnesota was the second surprising part of his decision. Early predictions were for Roberson, a Choctaw native, to stay in his home state and play at Oklahoma next season. As he makes his way north to play for PJ Fleck’s team next season, there is no doubt Roberson can have an impact to finish his career.

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Oklahoma

Gophers help fill need on defense with Oklahoma State linebacker

Published

15 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

Gophers help fill need on defense with Oklahoma State linebacker

The Gophers football program addressed a need in the middle of its defense for the 2025 season with Oklahoma State linebacker Jeff Roberson on Thursday night.

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound graduate transfer from Choctaw, Okla., totaled 58 tackles, including 8.5 for lost yards, three sacks and one interception in 12 games in 2024. He had a middling 57.7 grade from Pro Football Focus, along with 19 pressures, but also 11 missed tackles last season.

Roberson played 670 snaps last season, but only 107 across 2021 and 2023. He played special teams as a freshman in 2020 and missed the 2022 season with injury.

Roberson will help fill the void left by leading tackler Cody Lindenberg; the Anoka native declared for the NFL draft after the regular season and skipped the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Maverick Baranowski and Devon Williams top the U’s depth chart at linebacker going into next season.

The Gophers have added 15 total players via the NCAA transfer portal since early December and are still looking for help at cornerback and possibly defensive line.

Originally Published: January 10, 2025 at 12:00 AM CST

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Oklahoma

Ole Miss Linebacker Transfer Trip White Commits to Oklahoma State

Published

23 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Ole Miss Linebacker Transfer Trip White Commits to Oklahoma State

TRANSFER PORTAL TRACKER

The Cowboys went to the SEC to pick another linebacker out of the portal.

Ole Miss transfer Trip White, who was listed at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds last season, pledged to Oklahoma State, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz. White played in all 13 of the Rebels’ games this past season, his redshirt sophomore year. He made one tackle, primarily playing special teams.

White played in three games while maintaining a redshirt as a true freshman in 2022. He appeared in five games in 2023, and to this point has totaled nine career tackles.

Out of Parkview Magnet in Little Rock, Arkansas, White was a three-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class and chose Ole Miss over offers from Arkansas, Kansas State, Baylor, Louisville, Oklahoma State, Indiana and others. The 247Sports Composite system tabbed White as the No. 1,103 player in the class, the No. 109 linebacker in the class and the No. 12 player from Arkansas in 2022. He also started as his team’s quarterback as a high school senior, throwing for 2,035 yards and 19 touchdowns to go with 445 rushing yards and seven more scores.

White becomes the third linebacker the Pokes have grabbed out of the portal, joining Bryan McCoy (Akron) and Brandon Rawls (Saginaw Valley State). White’s addition comes a few days after Jeff Roberson hopped in the portal. With Roberson, Nick Martin, Collin Oliver and Kendal Daniels all gone from last season’s squad, OSU’s linebacker room — like most position rooms — will look quite a bit different heading into 2025. Kap Dede is set to coach that group, with new OSU defensive coordinator Todd Grantham bringing him in from Western Kentucky.

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