Patty Gasso on preparing for the NCAA Tournament: ‘We’re ready’

Oklahoma only played two games in the Big 12 Tournament but found themselves as champions once again. Capping off what has been a truly magical season for head coach Patty Gasso, attention has now been shifted to the NCAA Tournament. There, the Sooners will be aiming for a third consecutive title.

We will have a bracket on Sunday night, with Oklahoma being a shoo-in to host a regional. Gasso will not lead her team back onto the diamond until Friday, giving them some time off. There might be some things that need fine-tuning but for the most part, Gasso believes they are ready.

“We’re ready,” Gasso said. “We just need to rest and have good practices and make good choices and all of those good things. But we’re ready. There’s nothing else I can practice with them. Well, there is but we’re ready.”

Nearly a week will pass before Oklahoma sees a game on the schedule. What will they do until then? Gasso says the most important thing is getting some rest. Needing to hit a reset button before the grind of the NCAA Tournament is something she really emphasized.

But being able to enjoy the break is crucial as well. Gasso wants some team bonding activities to take place and make sure her players are enjoying each other’s company.

“From this point on, what they need is rest,” Gasso said. “They need rest. They’ll tell you that, I’ll tell you that. We are all kind of spent. We’ve been traveling a lot, we’ve been playing a lot. So, they need rest but we need good, focused practices and we can.

“We’ll have time to hang out as a team and do some fun stuff as well. So, it’s important for them to laugh and have a good time and have some fun. Now that we have those evenings open, we might be doing some cool stuff.”

Oklahoma City was the site of the Big 12 Tournament, just around 30 minutes from Norman. However, the last four games of the season were spent away from home, going up against Tulsa and Oklahoma State. Those may all be within the state but traveling can really add up over the course of a few weeks.

Luckily, Oklahoma is going to be at home for the regionals and their potential Super Regional. Gasso will have her team well-rested and ready to continue their dominance.