Breaking News: Oklahoma Slugger Jocelyn Alo Selected as the 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year

USA Softball, the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, announced today that the University of Oklahoma’s Jocelyn Alo has been named the 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.

The award, which is considered the most prestigious honor in Division I women’s softball, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players across the country.

The Oklahoma senior utility player has paced the potent Sooner offense during the 2021 season, holding the nation’s lead in home runs (30) and slugging percentage (1.1135) while ranking second in RBIs (82) and batting average (.482).

“I am so grateful and honored to be named the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year,” said Alo. “Thank you to my parents for being with me every step of the way and to Coach Gasso and the rest of the Oklahoma coaching staff for taking a chance on a kid from Hawaii. I’d also like to thank all the coaches before them that helped me get to this moment. I am truly speechless and feel so grateful to be honored with this award.”

The Big 12 Player of the Year and First Team All-Big 12 and All-Region selection totals 84 home runs in her career at the University of Oklahoma and enters the 2021 NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS) with 30 home runs, which ties the program record set by herself in 2018 and Lauren Chamberlain in 2012 and 2013.

The senior slugger has registered a hit in 47 of OU’s 52 games while sending a home run out of the park in 28 contests during the 2021 season. Additionally, Alo set a program-record 40-game consecutive hit streak from Feb. 21, 2020 to April 3, 2021, which put her just three games shy of the all-time NCAA record.

The other finalists for the 2021 award were 2021 Pac-12 Player of the Year Rachel Garcia from UCLA and 2021 Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year Gabbie Plain from Washington.

Previous recipients of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award have been:

• Stacey Nuveman (UCLA, 2002)
• Cat Osterman (Texas, 2003, 2005 and 2006)
• Jessica Van der Linden (Florida State, 2004)
• Monica Abbott (Tennessee, 2007)
• Angela Tincher (Virginia Tech, 2008)
• Danielle Lawrie (Washington, 2009 and 2010)
• Ashley Hansen (Stanford, 2011)
• Keilani Ricketts (Oklahoma, 2012 and 2013)
• Lacey Waldrop (Florida State, 2014)
• Lauren Haeger (Florida, 2015)
• Sierra Romero (Michigan, 2016)
• Kelly Barnhill (Florida, 2017)
• Rachel Garcia (UCLA, 2018 and 2019)

A 2020 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award was not given out due to the COVID-19 pandemic and season cancellation.

The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year is voted on by coaching representatives of 10 Division I Conferences in the 10 USA Softball Regions, members of the media who consistently cover Division I Softball across the country as well as past winners of the award.