Oklahoma has had a number of phenomenal coaches in the 21st century. Bob Stoops won an NCAA title in football in 2000, Lon Kruger made the Final 4 in 2016, Ryan Hybl won an NCAA title in golf in 2017, and Patty Gasso has won 6 NCAA titles in softball since 2000. Sherri Coale did pretty well on the basketball court as well, leading the Sooners’ women’s team to 3 Final 4s from 2002-2010. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Sherri about winning games in March and being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
You played basketball at Oklahoma Christian University and graduated summa cum laude: how good a player were you back in the day, and how did you 1st get into coaching? I was not a great college player but as a PG I understood the game and could get the ball to the people who could score the best. I always wanted to become a teacher/coach from day 1 of college. The people outside of my family who impacted me the most were my own teachers/coaches so that was always my dream. I got a job as a high school English teacher/assistant coach and thought that I had died and gone to heaven!
You were hired at Oklahoma in 1996 after spending 7 years at Norman High School: what was the hardest part of making the leap from high school to D-1? The hardest part was everything that had nothing to do with the on-court action, such as managing an entire program. The court was a familiar place but I had to learn everything else on the fly.
You won more than 500 games as coach at Oklahoma and were a 4-time conference COY: what is the secret to being a great coach? I wish I could encapsulate that: if so I would write a book! My best response is that it involves confidence/competence/passion…but at the end of the day it is about having good players.
You made 20 postseason appearances, including 19 straight NCAA tournaments from 1999-2018, and your 3 Final 4s remain in the top-10 in NCAA women’s history: what is the key to winning games in March? I always felt that the teams who excelled in March were the ones who were connected. When you are intertwined you can get better by spending more time together. The ever-elusive unity factor gives you the greatest chance.
In 2002 you made the NCAA title game before losing to an undefeated UConn team: where does that Huskies’ starting 5 of Sue Bird/Swin Cash/Asjha Jones/Tamika Williams/Diana Taurasi rank among the greatest that you have ever seen? I may be completely biased but I still think that they are the best: maybe the best women’s college team ever assembled.
In 2006 you became the 1st women’s team to go undefeated in Big 12 play: how were you able to keep your team focused for the entire season? What I remember about that team is that we were very balanced with very little egos. We had a superstar in Courtney Paris but everyone knew that they had a job to do. We had a complete group and all of the members knew that they were important. The intrigue of seeing what our opponents would do to try to stop us in our next game kept us together.
In February of 2008 you had a 10-PT win over Oklahoma State in front of a record crowd of 12,205 spectators for a game that was sold out a month in advance: how do you explain the rivalry to someone who has never seen “Bedlam” in person? I think of the Winston Churchill quote, “I like a man who grins when he fights.” There is incredible mutual respect but it is for bragging rights and the most fun you have ever had while trying to win.
In the 2010 Sweet 16 Nyeshia Stevenson made a 3-PT shot with 4 seconds left to clinch a 5-PT OT win over Notre Dame: did you think that her shot was going in, and what was the feeling like in your locker room afterward? I can feel in my stomach right now the same way I felt during that shot. Nyeshia’s shot just made it over the outstretched fingertips of her opponent and as soon as it did that I thought that it was going in. I looked down the bench and everyone just went crazy and lost their minds. I remember smirking and wondering, “How about that?!” It is 1 of those moments where I will always remember where I was.
In 2016 you were inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? It was a special honor: I still have to pinch myself to believe that it is real. What made the evening incredible was all of my players/assistants, who were the reason I was able to be on that stage: it is 1 of the great ironies of team sports.
You retired in 2021: what have you been up to since then, and what do you hope to do in the future? I have been living the dream. I have a brand-new granddaughter and get to spend a lot of time with her. I have a weekly blog (www.sherricoale.com/blog) and a book that will be released in October. I am also doing some public-speaking/consulting as well as gardening/playing tennis.