At OC, I was fortunate to be surrounded by great people who made great
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impressions on me. - Sherri Coale
formed a bond that remains to this day, so much so that Hays considers her one of his former players. She sat in on so many of Hays’ practices that she might as well have been. “There are a lot of girls who will kind of hang around and watch, but she probably asked more questions and would come in and talk about things,” Hays said. “She was always a gym rat. I think it was pretty evident early she was going to be an English teacher and a basketball coach.” Sure enough, right out of college in 1987, Coale landed a job at Edmond Memorial High School as an assistant coach. Two years later, Hays recommended her for a head coaching job at Norman High School, a position that Coale landed at age 24, making her the youngest head coach in Oklahoma’s highest prep classification. In seven seasons, she turned Norman into a national-level power, going 147-40 and winning two Class 6A state titles. Her last two Norman teams went 53-2. Then came an even bigger career jump – to the NCAA Division I level at age 31. Critics openly wondered if Coale could turn what had been a mostly middling OU program into a winner and if OU had dropped the ball by handing the young coach the program’s reins. Coale said she’s fortunate that she coached in the town where OU is located, so university administrators saw close-up what had happened at Norman High. “Her timing was perfect,” Hays said. “In 2009, she wouldn’t have gotten that job, even though she would have been the same coach and have done the same job.” OU struggled in Coale’s first season, going 5-22 and losing its last 16 games. The Sooners went 8-19 the next season. By season three, 1998-99, OU posted a winning record of 15-14 and made the Women’s National Invitation Tournament field. One season later, the Sooners won the Big 12 Conference championship and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
They’ve been to the Big Dance every year since. In 2002, Coale guided the Sooners to the national championship game, losing to Connecticut in San Antonio. Last season, behind All-America center Courtney Paris, the Sooners made it back to the Final Four. With a record of 286-132 in her 13 seasons, Coale is by far OU’s career wins leader. It’s not uncommon for the Sooners to draw crowds upward of 10,000 fans. She’s served as the president of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and has won multiple national and conference coaching honors. “Did I know she was going to be so successful when she got the position at OU? Nobody knew that,” Hays said. “But I’m not shocked or surprised. She treats people with respect and that’s what it’s all about.” Through her success, Coale has remained fiercely loyal to her alma mater. Along with Ross, two of her former staff members at OU – Bill Pink (90) and Scott Raines (89) – were fellow OC graduates. She schedules yearly exhibition games against OC and sometimes can be found watching her children play during OC’s annual Cage Camps. “When you go away from home and go to college, that’s when you formulate your own set of values and principles and decide how you want to live your life,” she said. “I was fortunate to be surrounded by great people who made great impressions on me. “I got to play for Max and watch Dan build a program. You can’t put a price tag on that. I was taught by some fantastic English teachers, who really created the type of teacher I would become. I could just go on and on with people, people, people. That’s the best thing about it.” By Murray Evans (89)
Sherri Coale may be most well known for her basketball success, but her focus on academics and service also have made a significant impact. Through the Sooner Big Sis Program, OU players volunteer their time as mentors and teacher’s aides to local elementary schools. They also have been involved with the Children’s Miracle Network, Habitat for Humanity, Oklahoma Children’s Hospital, the J.D. McCarthy Center for Children with Developmental Disabilities in Norman, the Norman Women’s Resource Center and Battered Women’s Shelter, Special Olympics and United Way’s “Meals on Wheels” and the Race for the Cure. As a student-athlete at Oklahoma Christian, Sherri was an Academic All-American and graduated summa cum laude. As a coach, she helps guide her OU teams to a combined GPA of 3.0 or better virtually every year. Four of her teams have been named to the Top 25 WBCA Academic Team Honor Roll. Three of her players have earned Academic All-America honors (recognizing a combination of athletic and academic excellence); her players also have a combined 70 all-conference honors during her tenure. Sherri and her family are active members at Westside Church of Christ in Norman, where her husband Dane (87) serves as a deacon. Her Christian faith motivates her to a much higher purpose than producing great basketball teams. “I want it to be my legacy at OU that we produced people who made a difference in the world,” Sherri told Oklahoma magazine. “It’s not just about champions, or only about how we played the game.” By Wes McKinzie (98)
Murray Evans has written for The Associated Press in Lexington, Ky., and Oklahoma City for almost seven years after spending 15 years as a sportswriter for The Oklahoman newspaper.
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