A Partnership Built on Bowling and Belief
Brian Kimrey, a longtime supporter from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, has become the most consequential patron in the University of Oklahoma’s baseball resurgence.
His $10 million gift in 2024 sparked a comprehensive renovation of L. Dale Mitchell Park, later christened Kimrey Family Stadium, and signaled to Skip Johnson that the university was ready to invest seriously in the program.
The following July, Kimrey added another $20 million, splitting the sum evenly between baseball and football, marking the largest single athletic donation in OU history and cementing his reputation as a transformational benefactor.
Collectively, the Kimrey family has contributed more than $25 million to OU athletics, with over $15 million earmarked for baseball during Johnson’s tenure, a financial foundation that helped the Sooners capture a return to the Men’s College World Series after a 12‑year hiatus.
Johnson, grateful for the confidence placed in him, signed a contract extension through 2029, ensuring continuity and allowing the program to build on its recent momentum.
Kimrey’s connection to OU began with childhood memories of listening to Sooners football on the radio, deepened when he met Johnson in 2017, and grew through a shared love of bowling that turned a professional relationship into a lasting friendship.
Now, as the team prepares for the 2026 tournament in Omaha, Kimrey and his wife plan to be in the stands, witnessing the culmination of a journey that started with modest radio broadcasts and ended with a stadium bearing their name.
The story illustrates how a single donor’s belief, paired with strategic investment, can reshape a program’s destiny and secure its place on the national stage.