Why Oklahoma MVP Jaxon Willits ‘Will Never Forget’ Magical CWS Run, First Father’s Day

Willits was crucial to the Sooners' 2026 national championship, and, with his dad by his side and his daughter in the stands, he took home CWS Most Outstanding Player honors.

Oklahoma infielder Jaxon Willits poses with his wife, Abigail, and daughter, Gracee, after winning the 2026 national title. | Carson Field / Sooners On SI

OMAHA, NE — Jaxon Willits couldn’t have asked for a more memorable first Father’s Day weekend as a parent.

Willits — whose wife, Abigail, gave birth to their daughter, Gracee, earlier in the year — was monumental in the Sooners’ quest for their first national championship since 1994, which they clinched on Monday with a 13-2 win over No. 5 North Carolina.

Willits earned College World Series Most Outstanding Player honors for his performance in Omaha, finishing the week-and-a-half at Charles Schwab Field with a .500 (13-for-26) batting average, one home run, seven RBIs and six runs scored.

Moments after the Sooners clinched the championship, Willits struggled to put the experience into words.

“I'm just trying to soak it all in now,” Willits said. “Looking back on it, it's something I'll never forget, to be able to do it here with my dad, with everybody that we have on this squad.”

Willits and his teammates fought through adversity during the entirety of their 2026 season.

Oklahoma rose as high as No. 7 in the D1Baseball rankings after a scorching start to the season. But conference play was rough on the Sooners.

OU finished 14-16 in SEC games and entered the conference tournament as the No. 11 seed. Oklahoma lost its final four series of the regular season and lost to LSU — the league’s No. 14 seed — in its first game at the SEC Tournament.

Despite these woes, Willits never lost faith that the Sooners could make a deep run.

“Whether we were playing well or not, we believed that we had the talent in the room to go out and win a national championship,” Willits said. “I feel like we were able to just take it one pitch at a time. And when things weren't going our way, we took it one pitch at a time. And when things were going our way, we took it one pitch at a time.”

Just over a month after the Sooners’ SEC Tournament loss to LSU, they are national champions. It’s easy to see how Willits — now a national champion and a new father — is having the best year of his life.

The first six months of 2026 have been almost equally memorable for Willits’ father, OU hitting coach Reggie Willits.

Reggie had a two-year college career as an OU standout, then played six seasons in Major League Baseball before joining the coaching ranks. He coached in the New York Yankees’ organization from 2018 to 2021.

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During that time, Reggie had to spend a significant amount of time away from Jaxon and the rest of his family — something he described as difficult.

“I was gone so much when he was growing up,” Reggie said.

Reggie joined Oklahoma’s coaching staff in 2021 as the Sooners’ hitting coach. Three years later — in 2024 — Jaxon enrolled at OU as a freshman.

At first, finding the balance between “dad” and “coach” was difficult for Reggie.

“Coaching Jaxon was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done at this level,” Reggie said. “You’re learning how to separate the coach and the dad, and it's not always possible. I was probably harder on him than almost all the other players.”

More than two years have passed since Jaxon’s freshman year, and Reggie now calls coaching his son “the greatest joy” of his life.

That joy reached its peak on Monday — when Reggie, Jaxon and the Sooners won a national championship just one day after Father’s Day.

“You'll never forget those moments you get to celebrate with them,” Reggie said. 

Oklahoma infielder Jaxon Willits celebrates after winning the 2026 national championship. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Jaxon has one year of college eligibility remaining, but it’s likely he’ll opt to follow his father’s footsteps and join the professional ranks. According to MLB.com, Willits is the No. 146 overall prospect for the 2026 MLB Draft, meaning he could be selected in the first few rounds.

If Monday does end up being Jaxon’s last game donning Crimson and Cream, OU coach Skip Johnson believes it’s a fitting ending to his college career.

“Jaxon Willits getting the MVP was really fitting, because he's one of our hardest workers, and he's our best leader,” Johnson said.

As for Reggie, he’s not going anywhere. He’ll be back on Johnson’s staff in 2027 as the Sooners look to repeat as national champions.

Johnson believes that the program is better than it was previously because of the Willits family’s contributions.

“They're part of my family,” Johnson said. “We got to hire Reggie, and I said, ‘Reggie, I want your kids to be around.’ That's what it's about. The Willits family is very important to me. There's no doubt.”