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🥎 Big 12 tourney begins

The college softball postseason has arrived, and for Oklahoma, it starts with this weekend’s Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City.

The top-seeded Sooners (48-1) will face Iowa State at 1 p.m. CT today on ESPNU. If the Sooners win, they'll play in Saturday's Big 12 tournament championship game at 2 p.m. on ESPN2.

“Going into postseason is like a new chapter,” OU coach Patty Gasso told reporters on Tuesday. “We kind of take this, like, this is the end of the book. And maybe [some of our players] didn't have a big part or [they] were not the main character in the first two or three chapters of the beginning and the middle of our book. But the ending is open for anyone who wants to be the main character. And however this is going to end, I'm hoping that you'll hear about new names.”

The Sooners roll into the Big 12 tourney on a 10-game win streak after sweeping their series against Oklahoma State last weekend.

A few more notes:

• OU dominated the recently announced All-Big 12 awards. Gasso was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year, Jocelyn Alo was named Player of the Year, Jordy Bahl won Freshman of the Year and shared Pitcher of the Year honors with Oklahoma State's Kelly Maxwell, and Grace Lyons was named Defensive Player of the Year. Click here to see the full All-Big 12 team.

• Gasso told reporters that Mackenzie Donihoo, one of the postseason stars for OU’s 2021 squad, will not return this season for personal reasons. Donihoo has only appeared in 31 games this season, starting in 18 of those contests. She finishes the season batting .250 with 14 RBI, 12 hits and one home run.

• ,Gasso on OU’s new deal with ESPN+, which will make Sooner softball more accessible to OU fans across the country next season: “This is going to solve a lot of problems for a lot of people. It helps with recruiting. It helps with families that can tune in now and not have to spend money to come out here to see us. So, I'm thrilled about it. It's a long time coming.”

• When is the NCAA Division I softball selection show?: Sunday, May 15, at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2

💰 NCAA updates NIL guidelines

It’s been nearly a year since the NCAA first allowed student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness, but the discourse around the topic has yet to slow down.

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors added to the conversation after publishing updated guidelines around NIL this week that aim to crack down on the booming industry that is NIL collectives.

What this means: The collectives popping up around college athletics might want to dial back some of the promises they’re making. The NCAA plans to penalize institutions that use these entities as a way to attract players to their campuses in exchange for NIL compensation, and some schools could be retroactively punished by the NCAA for what-would-have-been violations over the past 10 months. It’s essentially cracking down on booster involvement in NIL deals.

Read more at espn.com

What does OU’s head football coach, Brent Venables, think about all of this?

Speaking with The Oklahoman’s Ryan Aber, Venables seems relieved the NCAA is refining the loose guidelines it put in place last year.

“I just hope that at some point in time, it gets to where there’s some equality to it,” he told The Oklahoman, “there’s some sense, and that we’re not prostituting kids.”

Visit oklahoman.com for more OU coaches’ reactions to the updated NIL guidelines.

📚 ICYMI

• OU football recruiting: The Sooners landed a pair of transfers and added a Class of 2023 commitment this week (Eyes on Oklahoma)

• 🔒 Joe makes his picks for the early 2022 Big 12 football win totals (Eyes on Oklahoma)

• 🎧 PODCAST: Drafting Big 12 football Player of the Year candidates with CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah (Eyes on Oklahoma)