June 15, 2007

OLATHE, Kan. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and its softball coaches have named Oklahoma City head coach Phil McSpadden the 2007 NAIA Softball Coach of the Year after guiding the Stars to an NAIA-record eighth national title to cap a 53-6 2007 campaign.

The award is voted on by the NAIA's softball coaches, and eligible award-winners include region coaches of the year and head coaches of quarterfinalists at the NAIA Championship Tournament. Oklahoma City claimed the national title with a 7-2 win over Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) May 23 in Decatur, Ala.

McSpadden, who is 1,075-259 in 20 seasons at OCU, has led Oklahoma City to 19 NAIA Softball National Championship Tournaments, eight of which have resulted in national championships while one trip saw the Stars finish runner-up to the national title.

In 2007, McSpadden guided three All-Americans, including 2007 Player of the Year Melody Murphy and two-time All-American Dasha Shembereva, running McSpadden's All-American total to 36 and his player of the year total to four. McSpadden has also had two NAIA catchers of the year and two pitchers of the year in two decades at the helm of the Stars' softball program.

Coming into 2007, McSpadden had coached 33 total All-Americans, 22 of which were first-teamers, while also coaching 18 scholar athletes, three players of the year and three four-time All-Americans prior to 2007.

In addition to its record eight titles, OCU owns records for all-time tournament wins (86), overall tournament appearances (21) and consecutive wins (14, twice).

A 1977 graduate of Oral Roberts, McSpadden played baseball for ORU in addition to two seasons at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. He earned his master's degree from Oklahoma State University in 1980 and earned 127 high school coaching wins in Oklahoma at Ponca City High School and Dewey High School.

While at Dewey, McSpadden helped capture the first three state titles in school history. McSpadden has two sons, Matthew and Aaron.