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VISION TO BE THE PREFERRED DESTINATION FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES, STAFF AND FANS TO PURSUE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN SPORT AND IN LIFE. MISSION THROUGH DEVELOPING LEADERS AND INSPIRING CHAMPIONS, WE CREATE SOONER MAGIC. PURPOSE AS ONE TEAM, WE CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT OF EXCELLENCE FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES TO PURSUE THEIR HIGHEST ACADEMIC, ATHLETIC AND PERSONAL ASPIRATIONS WHILE PREPARING FOR LIFE BEYOND. CONTENTS SOONER MAGIC CORE VALUES 05 OUR STUDENT-ATHLETES 16 OUR SPORTS PROGRAMS 26 OUR STAFF 28 OUR STAKEHOLDER RELATIONS The University of Oklahoma Athletics Department 2014-15 Annual Report was produced under the supervision of Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Programs and Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione and Senior Associate Athletics Director Kenny Mossman with writing SHELBY PENDLEY assistance from Director of Publications Debbie Copp and the Athletics Communications staff. The report was designed by Assistant Director of Graphic Design Kelsey Hargens. Two-time All-American 2015 Big 12 Player of the Year This publication was printed by University Printing Services and distributed at no cost to the taxpayers of Oklahoma. Photo Credits: Photos courtesy of Stacey West, Jackson Laizure, John Williamson, Shevaun Williams & Associates and Ty Russell. This publication was printed at no cost to the taxpayers of the state of Oklahoma. The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution. www.ou.edu/eoo (August 2015). – 2 – – 3 – 2014-15 / ANNUAL REPORT WITH A 3.06 IN THE FALL OF 2014 AND A 3.02 IN THE SPRING OF 2015, OU’S STUDENT-ATHLETES HAVE RECORDED A CUMULATIVE GPA DIRECTOR’S LETTER OF 3.00 OR BETTER FOR SEVEN CONSECUTIVE SEMESTERS. SOONER MAGIC Sooner MAGIC has sprinkled the prairie from our university’s first athletic competition 120 years ago, to the frigid Saturday afternoon football comeback in Nebraska where Sooner MAGIC was coined, to most recently, when men’s gymnastics claimed its ninth NCAA Championship and our student-athlete GPA surpassed the 3.0 mark for the seventh straight semester. Sooner MAGIC is in our DNA, and as such, our Department of Athletics has reimagined our core values to help us bring Sooner M.A.G.I.C to everything we do — Masterful • Accountable • Gracious • Inclusive • JOE CASTIGLIONE Competitive. It is important to remind ourselves about the MAGIC we experience every day, MAGIC that Vice President for we enjoy sharing with you when you are in the crowd and through the stories you will find in this report. Intercollegiate Athletics Programs – Director of Athletics CONSIDER FOR A MOMENT JUST A FEW OF THE SOONERS’ ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2014-15… • Posted a 3.02 combined GPA for the spring • Softball’s Lauren Chamberlain was named after the record-tying fall mark of 3.06. Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year (and set NCAA career home run record with 95) while Paige • Men’s gymnastics won its ninth national title. Parker was named National Freshman of the Year and Shelby Pendley was named Big 12 • Men’s tennis won the ITA national indoor Conference Player of the Year. championship and finished as the NCAA runner-up for the second year in a row after • Buddy Hield became the first men’s the fourth straight Big 12 title. Axel Alvarez was basketball player in Big 12 history to lead named National Player of the Year. league in scoring, be named conference player of the year and make Academic All-Big 12 • Samaje Perine set NCAA FBS single-game first team. rushing record with 427 yards vs. Kansas. Our mission remains resolute: through developing leaders and inspiring champions, we create Sooner MAGIC. We thank you for engaging in our magical journey and reinforcing that, truly, There is Only One ACADEMICS Oklahoma! OU’s athletic department-wide graduation success, 72% two years ago, has improved to 80% in the current year. The Sooners celebrated 127 graduates in the Class of 2015, including 113 with undergraduate degrees, 13 with master’s degrees and one doctorate. With a 3.06 in the fall of 2014 and a 3.02 in the spring of 2015, OU’s student-athletes have recorded a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or better for seven consecutive semesters. The 3.06 ties the all-time best semester GPA. Academic Progress Rates (APR) continued to demonstrate academic excellence for the Sooners. For the second year in a row, OU tied for the lead in the Big 12 with 11 sports registering a perfect single-year 1,000 score. Those sports included men’s and women’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s golf, rowing, softball, volleyball and wrestling. All 21 of OU’s teams scored above the minimum for the fifth consecutive year and three teams, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics and women’s tennis, led the Big 12 with their perfect multi-year APR scores of 1,000. – 4 – – 5 – OKLAHOMA ATHLETICS 2014-15 / ANNUAL REPORT HIELD BECAME THE FIRST PLAYER IN THE 19-YEAR HISTORY OF THE BIG 12 TO BE NAMED CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE YEAR, LEAD THE LEAGUE IN SCORING AND BE NAMED TO THE ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM. 2015 ALL-AMERICAN BEAM 2013 ALL-AMERICAN UNEVEN BARS 2015 NCAA POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP RECEIPENT BASKETBALL BUDDY HIELD The Oklahoma men’s basketball team’s season was one to remember, culminating in the program’s 10th Sweet 16 appearance (first under fourth-year head coach Lon Kruger) and most wins (24) since 2008-09. Leading the charge was junior Buddy Hield, who GYMNASTICS put together one of the best seasons in all of college basketball. Hield started all 35 contests for the Sooners and averaged a league-high 17.4 points, REBECCA CLARK 5.4 rebounds (led conference guards) and 1.9 assists en route to being named a third-team All-American by the Associated Press and National Association Don’t try to slow down Rebecca Clark. The senior of Basketball Coaches. Additionally, he became the Oklahoma gymnast finished her bachelor’s first player in the 19-year history of the Big 12 to degree in December and began her master’s be named conference player of the year, lead the of accounting in January — also the beginning league in scoring and be named to the academic of the NCAA gymnastics season. Clark led OU all-conference first team. In April, Hield announced to an undefeated regular season and captured his decision to bypass the NBA Draft and return to first team All-America honors on balance beam Norman for his senior campaign. at the 2015 NCAA Championship. Days later, she was named an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient. After all, who better than a Sooner gymnast to epitomize the incredible balancing act required of a student-athlete? – 6 – – 7 – OKLAHOMA ATHLETICS 2014-15 / ANNUAL REPORT “WE ALL FELT LIKE IF THE NCAA IS GONNA HAVE THE AUDACITY TO PUT 15 “I LOVE THE RAH-RAH FACTOR OF OU. IT’S KNOWN STUDENT-ATHLETES OUT THERE RIGHT NEXT FOR ITS BIG FOOTBALL TEAM, BUT EVEN WHEN TO PRESIDENTS AND CHANCELLORS — WE’RE HOME COMPETING IN THE MCCASLAND PEOPLE WITH MASTER’S DEGREES AND FIELD HOUSE, WE GET ALL THE OU SUPPORTERS, DOCTORATE DEGREES WHO HAVE THE SOONER FANS WHO SCREAM “SOONER” BEEN DOING THIS FOR 30 YEARS — WHEN WE SCREAM “BOOMER.” WE’D BETTER STEP OUR GAME UP,” — TY DARLINGTON AT THE 2015 NCAA CONVENTION GYMNASTICS ALEC ROBIN The Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team has built a special bond with Cleveland Elementary School over the last 10 years. OU gymnasts, including senior Alec Robin, take time each week to volunteer with, mentor and tutor the students. In turn, the kids get to interact with OU student-athletes like Robin and come to love them as friends. Just as the Sooners support Cleveland’s students in the classroom, the Cubs give right back. Each year the students attend a meet — this year, it was the “Perfect Dual” between No. 1 OU and fellow unbeaten No. 2 Illinois. The students sang the national anthem, led the players onto the floor and even helped FOOTBALL display scores ... all evidence of a special bond that’s lasted TY DARLINGTON a decade and is sure to stay strong for years to come. The epitome of the student-athlete, Ty Darlington has excelled on the field and in the classroom for the OU football team. He’s started 14 of the 25 games he’s played in during his career, including all 13 contests at center in 2014. He helped anchor an offensive line that led the nation with the fewest sacks allowed last year. On the academic side, Darlington, who graduated in just five semesters, was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America first team last season and served as the 2014-15 Vice-Chair of the Big 12 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. In June, softball player Jessica Vest earned a similar honor. Darlington is the second straight Sooner center to earn that honor, following Gabe Ikard in 2013. – 8 – – 9 – OKLAHOMA ATHLETICS 2014-15 / ANNUAL REPORT “I WAS REAL SURPRISED JUST BECAUSE I’D NEVER DONE ANYTHING LIKE THAT BEFORE. IT WAS FUN AND I WAS GLAD IT BLEW UP AND GAVE A LITTLE EXPOSURE TO HAYDEN’S HOPE.” “I’M NOT THE ONE TO WANT THE SPOTLIGHT IN ANY WAY. I TRY TO GIVE THE SPOTLIGHT TO OTHER PEOPLE. THAT’S JUST THE TYPE OF GUY THAT I AM.” BASKETBALL JAMES FRASCHILLA One can argue that former Oklahoma basketball walk-on James Fraschilla is the king of trick shot videos, having now created four of them that are full of uniquely executed conversions and FOOTBALL have garnered more than 192,000 combined views.

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