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Oklahoma Softballer Transfers to Tennessee

Zaida Puni, who got time on the Sooners' national championship squad last season as a freshman backup, has transferred to play for the Volunteers.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma Softballer Transfers to Tennessee
Oklahoma Softballer Transfers to Tennessee /

Oklahoma softball transfer Zaida Puni has landed at Tennessee.

The UT softball program announced the addition of the former Oklahoma player on Sunday.

"Zaida was one of the most highly recruited players in the 2020 class," Vols coach Karen Weekly said. "She has a powerful bat, exceptional defensive skills and a high softball IQ."

Puni played for the national champion Sooners last season as a true freshman, appearing in 15 games and batting .357 (5-of-14) with three doubles, one home run, six RBIs and six runs scored.

Zaida Puni (left)
Zaida Puni (left) :: John E. Hoover / SI Sooners

Puni came to Oklahoma from Carson, CA, ranked No. 25 in the nation by Extra Inning Softball and was ranked No. 79 nationally by FloSoftball. She was among Patty Gasso’s pipeline of California players from the Batbusters travel team. Among Puni’s accomplishments before coming to OU was a World Championship with the 2019 18U team.

“The training she received in the OC Batbusters organization under Mike Stith and his staff is invaluable,” Weekly said in a press release. “She is a great addition to our program and we’re excited to coach her.”

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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