Jayda Coleman (born September 27, 2001) is an American

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is n ...

player for the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the " Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land R ...

. She also represented the

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at the 2019

U-19 Women's Softball World Cup The U-18 Women's Softball World Cup is a fastpitch softball tournament for age 18-and-under national teams held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). Prior to the 2021 edition, the tournament was an under-19 tournament. Results ...

and USA Softball International Cup.

High school career

Coleman attended The Colony High School in The Colony, Texas. During her high school career she was a six-time All-State honoree and three-time All-American. During the 2017 season, she hit .653 with 12 home runs and 81 hits in 40 games, and she led the Dallas-Fort Worth area with 74 runs scored and 53 stolen bases as The Colony won the Class 5A state championship. Following the season she was named MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year. During her senior year, she batted .717 with 42 runs scored, 41 steals, 29 RBI and 10 triples. She also was 12–0 in the circle with a 0.89 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 55 innings of work before the season was canceled due to the

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. Following the season, she was named the 2019–20

Gatorade Softball Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' football, boys ...

. She finished her career with a .702 batting average, 279 career hits, 261 runs, and 209 stolen bases and holds the state record for most runs all-time in the Dallas area. She was the consensus No. 1 recruit in her class.

College career

Coleman began her collegiate career for the

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. Coleman was named the Big 12 Player of the Week for the week ending May 11, 2021. She finished the weekend batting .625 with six RBIs, one home run, one double and nine

putout In baseball statistics, a putout (denoted by ''PO'' or '' fly out'' when appropriate) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out by one of the following methods: * Tagging a runner wit ...

s from centerfield. She finished the season with a .478 batting average, with 46 RBI, 66 runs scored, 31 walks, eight home runs and 19 stolen bases, with a team-best .584 on-base percentage. Her on-base percentage and stolen bases ranked first in the Big 12 and she was second behind her teammate Tiare Jennings in runs scored and batting average. She ranked in the top 10 nationally in runs per game (3rd), doubles (4th) on-base percentage (5th) and batting average (8th). During game three of the championships series at the

2021 Women's College World Series The 2021 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 21 through June 10, 2021 as the final part of the 2021 NCAA Division I softball season. 31 teams were awarded automatic bids as champions of their conferences after the Ivy League op ...

, Coleman was 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI to help the Sooners win the national championship. Following an outstanding season she was named first team All-Big 12, all-Big 12 Freshman team, and first team All-American. She was also named a top-three finalist for NFCA National Freshman of the Year. During her sophomore year in

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, she batted .429, with seven home runs, 37 RBIs, a .590 on-base percentage and led the team with 13 stolen bases. Her .590 on-base percentage ranked third in the NCAA. In the field, she had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage with 32 putouts and three assists. During conference play, she held a conference-best on-base percentage of .614 with 17 walks, four stolen bases and 21 runs, including one home run, two doubles and eight RBIs. Following the season she was named a first-team All-American. During her junior year in

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, she led the Big 12 in on-base percentage, runs per game, slugging percentage and total bases. Following the season she was named

Big 12 Conference Softball Player of the Year The Big 12 Conference Softball Player of the Year is a college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally pla ...

International career

Coleman represented the

at the 2019

. She was one of only two high-school athletes on the team and posted a .522 batting average with 12 hits, six runs, four RBIs, and won gold. She also represented the United States at the 2019 USA Softball International Cup where she posted a .375 batting average with one home run, five RBI, six runs scored, and won bronze.

Personal life

Coleman was born to Deana and Cedric Coleman, and has two siblings, Ashley Wilkerson and Jhanna Coleman. Her mother competed collegiately at

Texas Woman's University Texas Woman's University (TWU) is a public coeducational university in Denton, Texas, with two health science center-focused campuses in Dallas and Houston. While TWU has been fully co-educational since 1994, it is the largest state-supported u ...

, while her father competed collegiately at North Central Texas College. On January 1, 2024, Coleman's boyfriend, college football player

Billy Bowman Jr. Billy Bowman Jr. (born January 29, 2003) is an American football Safety (gridiron football position), safety for the Oklahoma Sooners football, Oklahoma Sooners. Early life and high school Bowman Jr. attended Billy Ryan High School in Denton, ...

, proposed to her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Jayda 2001 births Living people Oklahoma Sooners softball players People from The Colony, Texas Sportspeople from Denton County, Texas Softball players from Texas