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Oklahoma's Kendall Wells Takes Significant Step Toward Olympic Roster

The catcher was added to the USA Softball player pool that will help shape the Olympic roster.
Ryan Aber|
Oklahoma catcher Kendall Wells
Oklahoma catcher Kendall Wells | Carson Field / Sooners On SI

NORMAN — Oklahoma's Kendall Wells and UCLA's Megan Grant spent much of the 2026 season in a race to see who would break the NCAA single-season home run record.

Now, the pair will be working together.

Wells and Grant, along with Florida's Taylor Shumaker, were added to USA Softball's Women's National Team Athlete Pool.

The pool is used to select the roster for the 2026 USA Softball International Cup, which will be played July 30-August 3 at Devon Park in Oklahoma CIty.

It is also used to as the basis for the Team USA roster for ther 2028 Olympics, which will also be played in Oklahoma City.

Wells hit an OU-record 39 home runs, hitting .358 with 88 RBIs and 70 runs scored as a freshman in 2026.

She also won the Johnny Bench Award as college softball's top catcher.

Though both Wells and Grant topped Laura Espinoza's previous NCAA record of 37 home runs in a season, Grant ultimately outlasted Wells. The senior finished with 42 home runs, a .456 batting average, 91 RBIs and 88 runs scored.

Shumaker, an outfielder, hit .445 with 18 home runs, 92 runs scored and 10 stolen bases as a sophomore in 2026.

The International Cup, formerly known as the World Cup of Softball, will be played for the first time since 2019 and played in Oklahoma City for the first time since 2017.

Team USA has won 10 of the 14 tournaments, with Japan winning the title the other four times. USA finished runners-up each time Japan won.

The poll already includes OU alums Alyssa Brito, Jayda Coleman, Tiare Jennings, Kelly Maxwell, and Keilani Ricketts and current Sooners shortstop Gabbie Garcia.

Former OU player Jocelyn Erickson is also on the roster.

Wells will compete with Texas alum Reese Atwood, Erickson, LSU's Sahvanna Jaquish, Arizona's Dejah Mulipola, and UCLA's Sharlize Palacios.

Garcia hit .395 with 22 home runs, 74 RBIs, and 61 runs scored as a sophomore last season.

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Sooners coach Patty Gasso took over as Team USA's coach in 2025, leading Team USA to the 2025 World Games title.

Coleman, Jennings and Maxwell were all on the roster for that event.

Softball was not part of the Olympics in 2024 after returning in 2020 following a two-cycle hiatus.

While the majority of the Olympics in 2028 will take place in the Los Angeles area, Oklahoma City will host softball and canoe slalom.

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Ryan Aber
RYAN ABER

Ryan Aber has been covering Oklahoma football for more than a decade continuously and since 1999 overall. Ryan was the OU beat writer for The Oklahoman from 2013-2025, covering the transition from Bob Stoops to Lincoln Riley to Brent Venables. He covered OU men's basketball's run to the Final Four in 2016 and numerous national championships for the Sooners' women's gymnastics and softball programs. Prior to taking on the Sooners beat, Ryan covered high schools, the Oklahoma City RedHawks and Oklahoma City Barons for the newspaper from 2006-13. He spent two seasons covering Arkansas football for the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas before returning to his hometown of Oklahoma City. Ryan also worked at the Southwest Times Record in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and the Muskogee Phoenix. At the Phoenix, he covered OU's national championship run in 2000. Ryan is a graduate of Putnam City North High School in Oklahoma City and Northeastern State University in Tahlequah.

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