Completed Event: Baseball versus (2) Georgia Tech on June 1, 2026 , Win , 8, to, 7 , (10)
Final
Baseball
8
vs (2) Georgia Tech
7
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University of Oklahoma Athletics
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OU's Great Expectations Passes Another Milestone
Dec. 20, 2001
Norman, Okla. - Great Expectations, the $100 million capital campaign to benefit the University of Oklahoma Athletics Department, has surpassed $80 million in contributions, due in part to major gifts from OU coaches and officials.
Athletics director Joe Castiglione, women's basketball coach Sherri Coale, men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson and head football coach Bob Stoops have all made gifts or pledges to the ongoing effort.
"When our leaders participate in our campaign in this way, it sends an important message to other contributors," said Kirby Hocutt, OU's assistant athletics director for development. "Our leaders believe in what we are doing and are willing to put forth some of their own resources to support Sooner athletics."
The academic advisement wing of the Prentice Gautt Student Life Center will carry Castiglione's name after a gift he designated for the stadium project.
"Joe's gift is telling because it reinforces something he has often affirmed to us and that his desire is to provide OU athletes with the best possible experience, both athletically and academically," Hocutt said.
Stoops' gift was designated for the football locker room expansion project, which was completed just prior to the season. Coale chose to support the Lloyd Noble Center project, while Sampson earmarked his for the Prentice Gautt Academic Center and the general campaign.
The Great Expectations Campaign has attracted the four largest private gifts ever made to OU Athletics, including the largest, an $8.1 million contribution from the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation of Ardmore toward the $17.8 million Lloyd Noble Center project. Other gifts included $5 million for the indoor training center from Edward L. Gaylord of Oklahoma City, $2 million for the stadium project from Aubrey and Katie McClendon of Oklahoma City, $1.5 million from the Kerr-McGee Corporation for the Memorial Stadium and Lloyd Noble Center projects.
Since Great Expectations was announced Oct. 27, 1999, nine gifts of $1 million or more have been made to this initiative.
The Campaign for Sooner Sports is designed to support all OU sports and athletes. Improvements currently underway include an $850,000 softball clubhouse and a $750,000 renovation of the baseball stadium press box. Hocutt pointed out that the ambitious Oklahoma Memorial Stadium renovation and expansion poses the largest fund-raising challenge. Construction of the project began in December and will be completed in time for the 2003 season.
"We need another eight to nine million to really put that facility in the class it belongs," said Hocutt. We'll be working diligently over the next few months to raise the money we need and we're certainly encouraging Sooner fans everywhere to be as generous as they can possibly be. Every gift we receive is important in creating the great facility our fans and players deserve."
