Reigning Big 12 Champion KSU returns entire offensive line

Activist, former professor and member of the LGBTQ+ community: Judith Kaufman still carries optimism on her shoulders.

The LGBTQ+ community has made monumental strides to get to where they are today, and we have various elders of the community to appreciate and thank this Pride Month.

There is no doubt that elders in the LGBTQ+ community helped pave the way for those in the community that will come after them. Homophobia and transphobia were excessively prominent in the 1900s. Their bravery and persistence deserve to be celebrated in remembrance, not only during Pride Month but all year round.

This is especially true for Judith Kaufman. As a lesbian, she has had to overcome adversity and remain persistent with her morals and beliefs. Recog-

Out of high school, she attended local Clark University to receive her bachelor’s in psychology, graduating in 1978.

Kaufman had no idea she was a lesbian throughout her adolescence and teenage years, but there was something in the back of her mind that craved adventure. She knew she needed to make it out of Worcester and fulfill the longing feeling of finding herself outside of her hometown.

“It wasn’t even a thought that I was a lesbian” Kaufman said. “It hadn’t occurred to me, you know, it’s in 1978. We’re still living in a world where you don’t see folks who make their own [sexuality] visible, so I never had that reflection.

So I think I knew that I needed to leave home to begin to figure out who I was, and I needed to go far away.”

Staff Reporter

Football season is creeping up, and the Big 12 welcomes four new teams. The O’Colly will rank position groups in the conference each week. Previously, quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers were ranked. This time, it’s the offensive line.

1. Kansas State Cooper Beebe is a projected first-round pick in 2024 and is one of the best offensive linemen in the country. Beebe, a first-team All-American, will lead the best line, which returns all five starters. KT Leveston, Hayden Gillum, Hadley Panzer and Christian Duffie add to the talent on the line with Beebe. The five combine for 116 starts. The line limited opponents to 21 sacks last season and helped running back Deuce Vaughn total more than 1,500 rushing yards.

2. Texas A front line anchored by second-team All-Big 12 tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. returns all five starters and looks to be one of the best fronts in college football. Banks Jr. is the leader of this core, but Hayden Connor, Jake Majors, Cole Hutson and Christian Jones all make this frontline the second-best in the conference. The front five helped Texas running back Bijan Robinson run away with the Doak Walker Award last season.

3. West Virginia West Virginia sits around the top of this list because the Mountaineers bring back all five front-line starters, led by Zach Frazier. Frazier allowed one sack in 2022 and was named a firstteam All-Big 12 lineman. Frazier was named to the way-too-early All-American 2023 team by ESPN. The line allowed 20 sacks last season and features two former freshman All-Americans in Wyatt Milum and Tomas Rimac.

Kelly Maxwell hasn’t done much research on what a tourist would do in Ireland.

Ireland, more specifically Fingal-Dublin, Ireland, is where Maxwell will be spending a portion of her summer with USA Softball. She’s one of 16 women on the U.S. Women’s National Team roster that will represent the USA at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) World Cup. July 11–15 is when Group A will battle it out in Stage 1 for a chance to move on to Stage 2 next summer in the next step toward the finals. Ireland is the third country Maxwell has been to outside of the United States. She visited Japan last year with USA Softball and checked off Mexico with OSU in February.

Although she’s excited to get another stamp on her passport, her agenda other than softball is unsure.

Well, for the most part.

“I’ve heard I have to drink a Guinness beer, so I’m sure I’ll try that,” Maxwell said with a laugh.

In Group A, the USA squad will be competing against world-ranked No. 3 Chinese Taipei, No. 9 Australia, No. 16 Great Britian and No. 17 Ireland.

International softball is much different from softball in America. Much like how styles of play differ in men’s basketball and soccer internationally, other countries play different styles than the women on the USA roster are used to.

“The way they play is a lot faster, and it’s hard to believe because softball’s already a game that’s fast, but the way that Japan and Great Britain and all those teams play is crazy intense,” Maxwell said.

She also got to call her own game, which was something different for the AllAmerican. Unlike in college, where you can throw a repeated pitch throughout a game, in international play that isn’t a reality due to the knowledge of the game and scouting other teams do. So, Maxwell can call her own pitches, and switch up her tendencies and scenarios when she feels like it.

Much like how the USA team will have to approach those games differently, Maxwell is going to approach softball differently once her time with USA Softball concludes.

Maxwell dealt with a nagging injury to her pointer finger on her left hand in the back half of the season. This injury was caused by the softball leaving her hand—specifically when she threw her primary pitch, the riseball— and not getting any rest during last summer and fall ball.

OSU coach Kenny Ga- jewski originally told Maxwell she wouldn’t be playing in the fall, which at first was fine until the ace pitcher got “antsy” and wanted to play.

“We tried to shut her down in the fall, and she got antsy and irritated, and she’s back again,” Gajewski said in April. “So, we will shut her down; it’s going to have to heal. Maybe that will help, maybe it won’t.”

Despite the extra innings and balls Maxwell would throw with USA Softball, it was an opportunity that was hard to pass up, so with her accepting the roster spot, she will be resting in the fall.

“I sat down with Coach G and John (Bargfeldt) and all the staff, and we just talked about how this is an opportunity you’re not going to get much in your life, so you might as well do it.

“So, I think I’ll be shut down probably for the whole fall after I get back from Ireland,” Maxwell said.

In the fall, the Cowgirls will be without Bargfeldt, their pitching coach, for the first time in four seasons. The former Tulsa head coach decided to retire earlier this month to spend more time with his family. This will also be an adjustment for Maxwell.

“John, I couldn’t give enough thanks and praise too; he’s a great guy on the field,” she said. “I think he’s just pre - pared me for this opportunity in the best way possible.

“He always thinks that he could be replaced, but I don’t think John could be replaceable.” Despite the fact that he may not be able to be replaced in Maxwell’s eyes, he will have to be. With this position opening looming over the Cowgirls’ offseason, Gajewski sought the opinions of his two aces before diving into a coaching search, asking Maxwell and Lexi Kilfoyl what they’d want in a pitching coach.

Maxwell cited that she wanted a coach who would be consistent, extensively knowledgeable and always keep their health and bodies in mind, much like Bargfeldt did. Although the offseason won’t contain much downtime for Maxwell, she’s looking forward to the opportunity to wear the red, white and blue on an international stage. That’s what she always wants—to play on the biggest stage.

“I think it’s everything a little girl can dream of,” Maxwell said. “It’s been a goal of mine ever since I’ve been little to play on the biggest stage; fortunate enough, I got to play at the (Women’s College) World Series, but to go play internationally and play different countries is an incredible experience that I could forever be grateful for.” sports.ed@ocolly.com

4. Kansas The Jayhawks return four of five starters and add a former five-star recruit via the transfer portal. Mike Novitsky is the anchor in the middle for the line. Novitsky received second-team All-Big 12 honors last year and has 44 career starts. Dominick Puni, Kobe Baynes and Michael Ford Jr. return to the line after all three started most of last season. Kansas added Logan Brown, a Wisconsin transfer who was a five-star recruit. Brown started 20 games for the Badgers. The Jayhawks allowed a conference-low 12 sacks last season.

5. BYU

The Cougars lost one of their best linemen to the portal and will look to repeat production like last season. Starters Connor Pay and Kingsley Suamataia return to a line that helped the Cougars rank 11th nationally in rushing yards per game. Paul Maile, transfer from Utah, and Caleb Etienne, transfer from OSU, both are expected to start this season. Both were season-long starters at their programs.

6. Texas Tech Texas Tech found success in transfers Monroe Mills and Dennis Wilburn last season and added two starters from 2021’s best offense nationally. Mills and Wilburn transferred in and started the season for the Red Raiders. Mills didn’t see much playing time at OSU in two years while Wilburn wasn’t on scholarship until the end of the season. The Red Raiders get Cole Spencer back from injury and get Rusty Staats from the portal to fill in on the line. Both are from Western Kentucky and started in 2021 for the best offense that season. Texas Tech allowed a conference-worst 41 sacks last year.

7. Oklahoma

The Sooners’ line took a hit from last season but brought in more talent to beef up the front. Walter Rouse started 39 games at Stanford and Caleb Shaffer started 35 games at Miami (Ohio). Both are expected to start for the Sooners. Andrew Raym is the lone season-long starter to return with Savion Byrd and Tyler Guyton expected to take over the starting roles left.

8. Houston Houston doesn’t need to look outside the program to fill two spots left on the line, but the Cougars also return one of the best linemen in the Big 12. Tank Jenkins and Reuben Unjie didn’t play much last season but are expected to start for the Cougars this fall. Patrick Paul is a two-time first-team All-AAC selection and has 32 starts for Houston. The two other expected starters, Tyler Johnson and Jack Freeman, both started last season and combined to allow just three sacks.

9. Baylor

Baylor lost four of its five starting lineman from last season but brought in one of the best offensive lineman transfers in the offseason. Clark Barrington, a BYU transfer, joins the Bears and instantly makes the front line better. Barrington started 40 games for the Cougars and was named an All-American. Barrington’s brother, Campbell, joins him in Waco. Campbell was named a freshman All-American two seasons ago.

10. UCF

UCF has reloaded its offensive line to help the transition into the Big 12. Alabama transfer Amari Kight, Fresno State transfer Bula Schmidt and Kent State transfer Marcellus Marshall are expected to start for UCF this fall. Schmidt and Marshall received firstteam all-conference honors last season in their conferences. UCF also returns first-team All-AAC lineman Lokahi Pauole alongside Tylan Grable.

11. Oklahoma State

The Cowboys added a big transfer in the offseason to expand the depth of the line. Dalton Cooper transferred from Texas State after four years. Cooper is a two-time first-team All-Sun Belt selection. Cooper joins a line with experience, but he’s the most experienced with 36 career starts. The rest of the line includes Preston Wilson, Jake Springfield and Joe Michalski, who were part of the injury-riddled line last year that allowed 27 sacks and blocked for the ninth-ranked rushing attack in the conference.

12. TCU TCU lost a lot after its championship game appearance and will need to fill holes left on its line. Brandon Coleman and Andrew Coker are the returning starters from last season. Both players earned honorable mention for All-Big

12. To fill the void is Garrett Hayes, John Lanz and Jackson State transfer Willis Patrick. Patrick is the only one of the three to start in a game last season.

13. Iowa State Iowa State doesn’t use the transfer portal often and it didn’t use it to fill its offensive line this fall. Tyler Miller, Jarrod Hufford and Darrell Simmons Jr. all started for the Cyclones last season and are expected to do so this fall. Brady Petersen and Jake Remsburg are considered to be starters for Iowa State. The duo combined for just six starts last season. The Cyclones had a stellar passing attack last season, but the rush was last in the Big 12 with 108 yards per game.

14. Cincinnati The Bearcats return one starter from last season and need big contributions from their transfers. Gavin Gerhart is the lone starter to return, he started all season at center. Cincinnati brought in Penn transfer Trevor Radosevich, Louisville transfer Luke Kandra and Kentucky transfer Deondre Buford. Radosevich is the only one who started all season last year. He earned All-Ivy League first-team honors in 2022.