NORMAN — It was more than a year ago when pitcher Sophia Bordi committed to Oklahoma, becoming the first pledge in the Sooners' 2025 class.
The plan had been for Bordi — who was ranked as the top overall prospect in the 2025 class — to progress normally and join the Sooners as a true freshman for the 2026 spring season. However, the Sooners announced last month that Bordi reclassified and would join the Sooners ahead of this season, which begins on Thursday.
OU coach Patty Gasso discussed the details of Bordi reclassifying during media day on Saturday.
"We didn't even talk about this," Gasso said. "She did graduate (in) June already. A year in advance. I didn't even know it. I'm not normally looking for that. She told me that she was gonna go in the spring and live in California and train with her travel ball team and get a job. And I'm like, 'What if we could get you in here?'
"I talked to her mother, who was just an elite — I think she might've been an Olympian, but she was an All-American at Texas (as a) swimmer. She knows about college athletics. And I said, we could do this. Ann they were all in. It made more sense for each party. And what she's gonna develop, she's gonna have such a major head start and I foresee her being one of our elite pitchers in the future."
With Bordi on the team, the Sooners can get an early jump on developing her for the future.
Bordi will work with OU coach Jennifer Rocha and alongside a pitching staff that includes veterans like Sam Landry, Isabella Smith and Kierston Deal. Bordi will also be working with true freshman Audrey Lowry.
But with the departures of key veterans like Kelly Maxwell, Nicole May and Karlie Keeney, the pitching staff is a bit of a question mark this season, leaving some questions about whether Bordi could help the team this season. Instead, the Sooners are planning to redshirt Bordi and are focused on developing Bordi to help the team in the future.
"She is quite behind, and I think she knows that," Gasso said. "When you miss a complete fall, you're jumping into a team that already has the system down. And so she's just trying to learn the system. The goal was to get her to be able to throw some BP (batting practice) against us, to get in with Coach Rocha. Listen, learn, get strong in the weight room. That's probably the biggest thing that we're looking for, is that she gains strength.
"If we had an emergency, break the glass, bring in Sophia. That's the only way we would ever do it. I do want to maintain her redshirt unless we absolutely need her. But I think it's great. I'm really excited about her (progress). She's going to be so ahead of her normal class that's coming in next year. Think she could lead them, guide them with her experience as well."
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