Softball: Former LBCC coach Gasso to be inducted into NFCA Hall of Fame

Former Long Beach City College and current Oklahoma University softball head coach Patty Gasso has been named as one of three individuals that will be inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Hall of Fame. Gasso, along with the University of North Carolina's Donna Papa and former Palomar College head coach Mark Eldridge, will be inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame at the 2012 NFCA Convention in Orlando, Fla.

Before Oklahoma, Gasso set the standard for LBCC softball when she arrived at the college in 1990. During her five-season run at Long Beach, she compiled an overall record of 161-59-1. Gasso's squads won four South Coast Conference titles and claimed two Southern California Regional championships. In 1992, she was named the California Community College Softball Coach of the Year as well as NFCA West Regional Coach of the Year.  

Her 1992 and 1993 LBCC squads earned fourth-place finishes at the State Championships, while her 1994 team was State Championship runner-up.

Following the 1994 season, Gasso accepted the head coaching position at Oklahoma where she is now the longest tenured active OU coach. She enters her 18th season this spring having taken each of her 17 previous teams to NCAA appearances. Gasso's squads have advanced to the Women's College World Series six times, including in 2011, and won the program's first ever national championship in 2000.

Gasso has a career record of 979-328-2 with a record of 813-269-2 at OU after five successful years at LBCC. Gasso's teams have won 74 percent of their Big 12 games along with four regular season Big 12 crowns and four Big 12 Championship wins. Her teams have finished second or higher 12 different times since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996 as she has won more Big 12 games (221-76) than any coach in the league's history and has twice as many wins as any other coach in OU history.

Numerous Sooner players have prospered under Gasso's tutelage and garnered national, regional and conference recognition. She has directed 38 All-Americans, 84 All-Region honorees and 113 all-conference selections.

The OU softball success under Gasso has also spilled over into the classroom where the Sooners have been honored with 81 academic all-conference honors. Six of those have gone on to become Academic All-Americans, including Lana Moran, the 2000 Academic All-American of the Year. Gasso and her staff have consistently been recognized for their efforts on and off the field. The staff was awarded three consecutive Speedline/NFCA Midwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year awards from 1999-2001 and received the national honor in 2000. Gasso and staff have claimed the Midwest honor in five of their 15 seasons with the most recent award coming in 2004. In addition, Gasso has been named the Big 12 and Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 1996, 1999 and 2000. She was named the 2009 Big 12 Coach of the Year.

In 2004, Gasso was inducted into the Long Beach City College Hall of Champions as well as the City of Long Beach Baseball and Softball Hall of Fame.

Photo courtesy OU Athletics Communications/Ty Russell