Another sign of the Pac 12 decline- the NCAA softball final pits Oklahoma vs Texas. It shows how important the next round of TV contracts for the conference- it will help football, but will also provide valuable dollars to keep the "non-revenue" sports competitive!

OK features Jocelyn Alo- the top power hitter in college softball from Hawaii who was a verbal commit to Cal, before she decided to go to OK because "she wanted to win a national championship" (according to a quote from her Dad).

Texas is coached by Mike White who coached at Oregon and had the Ducks ranked #1 in the country, before he was lured away by big money. See quotes from an article below:

So, why did he leave?

It came down to Texas' facilities, recruiting advantages and dollars and cents.

Oregon paid White well during his last seasons at Oregon, with his salary averaging $237,500 per season. However, White felt that he was worth more given his success and wanted to be compensated accordingly. Oregon wasn't willing to budge. Texas was.

Athletic Director Chris Del Conte gave White a five-year contract that pays $505,000 in the first season. The deal puts White in the top five for salaries among all college softball coaches.

"When we went looking for our next softball coach at Texas, we wanted someone who was a passionate program builder, a proven leader and a coach with a history of developing student-athletes," Del Conte told Reporting Texas in a statement. "In visiting with Mike White, it didn't take long to realize he checked all of the boxes. In a short period of time, he took a program that had not had a great deal of success and built it into a consistent national power."

The SEC was touting that they had surpassed the Pac 12 in softball the last several years. The NCAA 2022 Selection show declared the ACC as the top softball conference with #2 Florida State, #3 Virginia Tech, Duke,
Clemson, etc. I would conjecture that nobody has a secure hold on the top softball spot. The Big 12 teams that made the championship, Oklahoma & Texas, both might be moving over to the SEC per football rumors. The one conference of the Big 5 that has stumbled badly is the Big Ten (14 schools). Northwestern was fortunate to make it to the WCWS by upsetting Arizona State in Tempe. Their star was a pitcher from the Eastbay. GO BEARS!

In the past 24 hours, Texas A&M hired Trisha Ford from ASU to be their new softball coach. Ford was the Pac-12 Coach of the Year and led the Sun Devils to the Conference championship with a 20-4 record.

Wow! SEC strikes, again. GO BEARS!

The rise of other conferences in recent years has been apparent and is almost certainly fueled by revenue imbalance that allows for investment in facilities and staffing. There is a stark contrast in the quality of facilities between the SEC and the Pac, where only AZ and OU have made significant upgrades recently. The UCLA facilities are an embarrassment for a program of that stature and what Cal has put up with for the years since our national title gives cause for wonder that we have recruited as well as we have. The loss of a rising star like Trisha Ford to ATM (how many of her young stars will follow?) is a blow to the conference as well.

I wonder what kind of counter-offer ASU made to Trisha Ford. I see nothing in her background that would suggest a strong connection to A&M and/or Texas as a whole. Her roots are in the East Bay. hmmmm

Let's get Chelsea that new stadium. We've seen with this incoming class she can already recruit with the best of them. Now we need the stupid NIMBY's to shut up and let the damn stadium be built.

CalFanatic said:

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Let's get Chelsea that new stadium. We've seen with this incoming class she can already recruit with the best of them. Now we need the stupid NIMBY's to shut up and let the damn stadium be built.

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Back in late February of this year, I sent an email to Capital Strategies (the campus department overseeing the softball stadium project as well as others).

This was the reply back from the Director of Communications, Kyle Gibson:


"Thanks for reaching out with your questions. As a result of litigation
filed by neighbors, the university is currently conducting additional
environmental analysis for the softball project. The analysis is
expected to take at least a year to complete. In the meantime, the
campus is actively fundraising for this and other projects in support
of gender equity and expanding access to equitable athletics
facilities for our female student-athletes.

We anticipate beginning construction of the softball project in 2023,
once the additional environmental analysis is completed."

Given the softball stadium location, who has a problem with this?

SFCALBear72 said:

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CalFanatic said:

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Let's get Chelsea that new stadium. We've seen with this incoming class she can already recruit with the best of them. Now we need the stupid NIMBY's to shut up and let the damn stadium be built.

---

Back in late February of this year, I sent an email to Capital Strategies (the campus department overseeing the softball stadium project as well as others).

This was the reply back from the Director of Communications, Kyle Gibson:


"Thanks for reaching out with your questions. As a result of litigation
filed by neighbors, the university is currently conducting additional
environmental analysis for the softball project. The analysis is
expected to take at least a year to complete. In the meantime, the
campus is actively fundraising for this and other projects in support
of gender equity and expanding access to equitable athletics
facilities for our female student-athletes.

We anticipate beginning construction of the softball project in 2023,
once the additional environmental analysis is completed."

---

HoopDreams said:

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Given the softball stadium location, who has a problem with this?

SFCALBear72 said:

---

CalFanatic said:

---

Let's get Chelsea that new stadium. We've seen with this incoming class she can already recruit with the best of them. Now we need the stupid NIMBY's to shut up and let the damn stadium be built.

---

Back in late February of this year, I sent an email to Capital Strategies (the campus department overseeing the softball stadium project as well as others).

This was the reply back from the Director of Communications, Kyle Gibson:


"Thanks for reaching out with your questions. As a result of litigation
filed by neighbors, the university is currently conducting additional
environmental analysis for the softball project. The analysis is
expected to take at least a year to complete. In the meantime, the
campus is actively fundraising for this and other projects in support
of gender equity and expanding access to equitable athletics
facilities for our female student-athletes.

We anticipate beginning construction of the softball project in 2023,
once the additional environmental analysis is completed."

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I know. Ridiculous!! Unless they are worried about an increase in fans. Good grief! Do they complain about Witter Field for rugby and those crowds? Bet not.

The plan is to turn it around and have home plate and the stands where the outfield currently is.

The race to keep up seems to be accelerating- while Cal spends years trying to get a new stadium built (hopefully it will be top notch!!), Oklahoma is paying their softball coach $925,000 per year.

I saw that Pac 12 member Univ of Arizona (a program with a very strong history) hired their latest coach with a salary of $225,000/year.

Given the SEC resources, I'm guessing Texas A&M probably doubled the ASU coach's salary!

Unfortunately, for now, the Pac 12 is literally a steppingstone conference where the best coaches can leave and make dramatically more money elsewhere. I don't know, but I'm assuming Chelsea Spencer makes closer to what the Oklahoma pitching coach makes ($185k) than the Oklahoma head coach...

Patty Gasso receives extension through 2024, annual salary approaches $1 million
Brooke Pryor

Patty Gasso is getting paid.

Fresh off Gasso's fourth national title, the Oklahoma Board of Regents approved a monster payday for the head softball coach on Thursday, awarding her a contract extension through 2024 with a $1 million annual guaranteed pay.

He new annual salary is $725,000 with an annual stay bonus of $200,000. Previously, Gasso's annual stay bonus was just $25,000.
She will receive the bonus on Feb. 1 of each contract year, beginning in 2018, for an annual total compensation of $925,000.
With that figure, she'll retain her title of highest paid college softball coach.
Her base salary is $280,000, up from $250,000. The additional $445,000 will come from unrestricted private funds for fundraising, promotions and personal services. That total took the biggest jump, increased from $145,000.

She'll receive an additional $50,000 each year in outside income from the unrestricted private funds through June 1, 2024.
At the Night of Champions event in Oklahoma City about a month ago, Gasso, entering her 24th season at OU, was asked if she ever thought about retirement following Bob Stoops' surprise announcement over the summer.

"I still feel like I love what i'm doing," she said. "Sometimes recruiting gets a little overwhelming because you're away from home so much. And I miss my dogs as much as my kids. I have a grandson now, so that's kind of cool. When he's growing up, is that going to change the way I feel?

But the fact that my son is coaching with me, changes that, because I get to see him a lot. I'm still feeling pretty good about doing it. I know the finish line is there. I know it's not too far away."

Gasso isn't the only member of the softball coaching staff to get a raise. Her son, J.T. Gasso, an assistant softball coach, will make $125,000 annually, an increase from his previous salary of $83,400, while longtime pitching coach Melyssa Lombardi will make $185,000, up from $109,000.

The Berkeley neighbors seemed to be worried about the installation of lights for night games in Strawberry Canyon. Most of the top softball teams play night games. This is another impediment to a first class facility.
GO BEARS!

Imagine if Alo didn't decommit from Cal her senior year....

CalFanatic said:

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Imagine if Alo didn't decommit from Cal her senior year....

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Oklahoma would have to make do with just 3 first team AA position players, 3 pitching aces and could fill in with little used Grace Green, a likely top 4 hitter on any other team in America. Alo might have gotten Cal to the tourbamanet, but teams could just pitch around her the way they did with Veronica Nelson and we probably wouldn't have made it to OKC. Unless, of course, Alo's presence could draw a slew of complementary talent to support her, which it might have done.