Oklahoma softball star Jayda Coleman made several lifelong memories in Oklahoma City this week — winning a fourth straight national title, hitting a walk-off home run, and most of all, receiving some words of encouragement from Shay Knighten.
Knighten is a former Sooner superstar in her own right, who last played in 2019 and went down as one of the all-time OU players under Patty Gasso. She actually spoke to the current team just before their game against Florida. And for a current player like Coleman, meeting a legend of the program like Knighten was quite cool.
“I will never forget that meeting for the rest of my life,” Coleman said after Oklahoma’s second win over Texas. “I have looked up to Shay Knighten since I was in the seventh grade. First off, for her to be in the same room as me was, like, surreal.”
Coleman then revealed that Knighten’s message to the team had a little bit to do with faith, and was all about trusting yourself out there.
“For her to just open up her heart and just talk about the Lord, pretty much just telling us that we are not alone. She has been through this before. Anytime we are on the field, if we want to look up to her, she can give us 30 seconds of encouragement.”
Per Coleman, those are words she’s kept with her as Oklahoma finished off their fourth straight national championship run. “I use that very, very often, ever since she told me that,” she said.
That moment, and meeting with Knighten, obviously meant the world to Coleman, who was really moved by what the former Sooner had to say.
“It was just a surreal moment. I remember just I started bawling, crying. Sometimes the Lord moves your heart in such a certain way. Like, that’s just something I’ll never forget in my life.”
Well, just a few hours after Shay Knighten blessed Jayda Coleman with those words of encouragement, she was the one who came to the rescue for OU, blasting a walk-off home run against the Gators to advance Oklahoma to the final series.
As the ball sailed over the wall and victory was secure, Coleman was again seen nearly in tears, holding one hand over her heart while thrusting the other towards the sky as she made her home run trot. You can probably assume Shay Knighten was with her on that one.
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