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Report: OSU Coach Kenny Gajewski on Kelly Maxwell: 'She's Lost Everything Here'

The Cowgirls' softball coach commented recently on the Sooners' newest transfer and indicated she's not welcome back in Stillwater.

John E. Hoover

Report: OSU Coach Kenny Gajewski on Kelly Maxwell: 'She's Lost Everything Here'
Report: OSU Coach Kenny Gajewski on Kelly Maxwell: 'She's Lost Everything Here' /

Kelly Maxwell’s old coach doesn't think much of her decision to go to Oklahoma.

That’s according to a story published Wednesday in the OSU student newspaper, The O’Collegian.

“My only disappointment for Kelly is that she went to OU, because now she’s lost everything here that she’s ever done,” OSU coach Kenny Gajewski told Oklahoma State fans last week at “A Night With OSU” in Oklahoma City, according to the paper. “And as long as I’m here, it’ll be hard for her to come back here. That’s just the way it is.”

Kelly Maxwell and Kenny Gajewski
Kelly Maxwell and Kenny Gajewski :: BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK

Gajewski, who played baseball at Oklahoma and won a national championship with the Sooners in 1994 before going to work for the OU athletic department, apparently wasn’t masking his distaste for his star pitcher’s decision to join OU softball.

Gajewski did say he’s made peace and put it behind him. But then he expressed his displeasure, according to the O’Colly.

“I didn’t feel like that at first. I’ll just be very honest. I was upset like most of you guys were upset,” Gajewski told the crowd.

“But if you don’t want to be here, go away. I don’t want you here if you don’t want to be here and wear this logo and represent this school.”

Maxwell spent five seasons pitching for the Gajewski’s Cowgirls and became one of the best pitchers and most decorated players in program history.

But she transferred to OU in July, joining the three-time national champions and the program that Sooners coach Patty Gasso herself has characterized as “the evil empire” in the eyes of rivals.

Maxwell was the fourth high-profile OSU athlete over the last two years to transfer to Oklahoma, joining pitcher Kale Davis, defensive end Trace Ford and women’s basketball player Lexi Keys.

“I think the biggest thing that we’re dealing with now with these young kids – and they’re still kids, they’re still young – is that they just can’t get out and kinda see 10 years down this road,” Gajewski said. “They kinda see what’s under their feet.”

Maxwell starred on four Women’s College World Series teams, was a two-time All-American and 2022 Co-Big 12 Pitcher of the Year.

Gajewski’s comments on Maxwell came at the end of his 15-minute address, as he reportedly used the rest of the time to focus on the players who are on his roster rather than his rivals.

“We have benefitted very much out of the portal, as well,” Gajewski said. “So, it’s probably time we took a little bit of our own medicine, but we’ll be just fine.”

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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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