All Sooners

Three Years, Three Titles: Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings Have Been Oklahoma's Driving Force

They've been starters and big-time contributors since arriving together as freshmen, and they've shared multiple awards and key moments as Patty Gasso's Sooners' built a dynasty.

John E. Hoover

OKLAHOMA CITY — They came in together as freshmen. Three years in, they’ve known nothing but winning.

In three seasons of college softball, Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings have led Oklahoma to a record of 176-8 and three national championships.

The clutch pitchers have changed, from Giselle Juarez to Hope Trautwein to Jordy Bahl. The leaders have changed, from Nicole Mendes to Lynnsie Elam to Grace Lyons. The transfer portal has giveth and the transfer portal has taketh away.

Even home run queen Jocelyn Alo has been here and left.

But since the Sooners started playing in dynasty mode in 2021, 2022 and now 2023, Coleman and Jennings have been the catalyst. Whether it’s a two-out double to the gap or a leadoff home run, or a momentum-killing double play or a game-saving catch up against the center field wall, Patty Gasso has come to depend on her most dependable duo over this almost unprecedented three-year stretch.

Tiare Jennings and Jayda Coleman celebrate their third national championship.
Tiare Jennings and Jayda Coleman celebrate their third national championship :: John E. Hoover / AllSooners

“It hasn't hit me yet,” Jennings said Thursday after the Sooners won their third straight national title. “We knew our class though was something special. Especially just me and Jayda in the 1-2 spot together. We've always known if she's not going to do it, I'm going to do it. If I'm not going to do it, she's going to do it. It's going to be one of us.”

Gasso’s 2021 freshman class consisted of Coleman, Jennings, utility player Paige Knight, infielder Zaida Puni and pitcher Nicole May.

Knight transferred to New Mexico State and has been a two-year starter for the Aggies. Puni has emerged as a star at Tennessee and even enjoyed a successful return to Oklahoma City last week with the Vols.

May, of course, remained at OU and has become a pitching superstar herself. She was second in the nation this year with a 0.91 earned run average and posted an 18-0 record.

But for everyday heroics, everyday consistency, everyday productivity, these three championship seasons have been keyed by Coleman and Jennings.

Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings
Jayda Coleman and Tiare Jennings :: Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun-USA TODAY NETWORK

Coleman, from The Colony, TX, has started all 184 games of her OU career in center field. Jennings, from San Pedro, CA, has started 183 of her 184 mostly at second base.

Coleman’s career batting average is .425. Batting leadoff and wearing No. 24, Coleman has 34 home runs and 35 doubles with 141 RBIs.

Jennings’ career average is .427. Batting mostly second and wearing No. 23, she’s hit 73 home runs and 50 doubles with 245 RBIs.

This year, as Coleman increased her power hitting, they shared the team lead (with Alyssa Brito) with 17 home runs.

“We have been so close since the get-go,” Coleman said. “I feel like sometimes we've kind of been put together to compete against each other — like Freshman Player of the Year, Player of the Year, that kind of thing. We've never let it get between us. We always knew we were on the same team regardless.”

Coleman is right. She was the Gatorade National Player of the Year in high school, but then it was Jennings who was the National Freshman of the Year in 2021. Then this year, it was Coleman who was named Big 12 Player of the Year.

Every year, every day, they compete with each other to make Oklahoma better, and they’ve become inseparable along the way. By now, they could probably finish each other’s sentences.

“We kind of know each other already,” Jennings said, “and I could look in her mind and know what's going on, she can look through mine.”

“She's my dog,” Coleman said. “I’ll tell you straight up, she is my dog. Yeah, three-peat, all this kind of stuff. …”

Tiare Jennings and Jayda Coleman
Tiare Jennings and Jayda Coleman :: John E. Hoover / AllSooners

Thursday night, after a 3-1 victory over Florida State to lock up their third straight national championship, was too soon to ask about going 4-for-4 in their career — winning it all again next year.

But apparently, it’s not too soon for Coleman and Jennings to talk about it. Actually, that’s exactly the mindset that sets them apart. Hot, tired, sweaty, carrying trophies, covered with dirt, dripping with emotion, their thoughts inevitably turned to a four-peat.

“It hasn't sunk in yet, but it's a heck of a way to spend three years together, I would say,” Jennings said. “Being in the present, enjoying this moment with everyone. Next year it's back to work. Just enjoying this three-peat. It is insane.

“She's my dog,” said Coleman. “I love doing this career with her. Hopefully we finish it out with a bang.”

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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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