Sherri Coale

Sherri Coale
Biographical details
Born (1965-01-19) January 19, 1965 (age 59)
Healdton, Oklahoma, U.S.
Playing career
1983–1987Oklahoma Christian
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1990–1996Norman HS
1996–2021Oklahoma
Head coaching record
Overall513–294 (.636)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3x NCAA Regional—Final Four (2002, 2009, 2010)
6× Big 12 regular season championships (2000–2002, 2006, 2007, 2009)
4× Big 12 Tournament championships (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007)
Awards
Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
Medal record
Women's Basketball
Assistant coach for  United States
FIBA Under-19 World Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Brno Team Competition
Head coach for  United States
World University Games
Gold medal – first place 2013 Kazan Team Competition

Sherri Kay Coale (née Buben; Born on January 19, 1965)[1] is a retired college basketball coach. She was the head coach of the University of Oklahoma Sooners women's basketball team for 25 years, from 1996 to 2021.[2] Coale was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

Personal

Coale grew up in Healdton, Oklahoma and married Dane Scott Coale (born 1964) on June 20, 1987. The couple has two children, son Colton (born 1992) and daughter Chandler (born 1996). Coale has one brother, Jack. Their parents are Beverly Stash and Joe Buben.

Coale completed her undergraduate studies at Oklahoma Christian College in Oklahoma City, where she graduated summa cum laude in 1987. She played on the school's Lady Eagles basketball team as a guard.[3]

Coale was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 2007.[4]

Coaching career

Coale accepted the Oklahoma position in 1996. She went directly from a high school squad (having coached the previous six years at the local Norman High School)[5] to an NCAA Division I team. Inheriting a team in turmoil at Oklahoma, within four years, Coale had the Sooners back in the NCAA Tournament. She brought the Sooners into the national spotlight in 2002 when her team went all the way to the national championship game, losing to undefeated Connecticut.[6]

In 2005–2006, Coale's Sooners went 16–0 in Big 12 play and became the second Big 12 basketball team, men's or women's, to go undefeated in conference play. The University of Kansas men's basketball team went undefeated in Big 12 play in the 2001–2002 season. In 2009 and 2010, Coale led the Sooners back to the NCAA Tournament Final Four in back-to-back seasons, losing tight games to Louisville and Stanford in the semifinals.

Coale announced her retirement at the conclusion of the 2020–21 season.[7]

USA Basketball

Coale was named as assistant coach of the USA team which would compete at the Junior World Championship in Brno, Czech Republic during July 2001. The team won their first five games, including a record setting win against Mali. The 97–27 final score represented the largest margin of victory by a USA team in Junior World Championship history. The preliminary round results qualified the team for the medal rounds, where they faced the host team, the Czech Republic. With a home crowd cheering them on, the Czech team held a nine-point lead with just over six minutes to go. The USA team cut the lead down to three points with seconds to go, and good defense gave the ball back to the USA. However, the USA was called for an offensive foul, and lost possession. The Czech Republic team won 92–88, and went on to beat Russia 82–80 to win the gold medal. The USA team beat Australia 77–72 to win the bronze medal. [8] Diana Taurasi was the leading scorer for the US with 19.3 points per game, while Alana Beard was close behind with 18.0 points per game. Nicole Powell was the leading rebounder for the US, with seven rebounds per game.[9]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Oklahoma Sooners (Big 12 Conference) (1996–2021)
1996–97 Oklahoma 5–22 1–15 12th
1997–98 Oklahoma 8–19 2–12 T–9th
1998–99 Oklahoma 15–14 8–8 T–5th WNIT Second Round
1999–2000 Oklahoma 25–8 13–3 T–1st NCAA Sweet 16
2000–01 Oklahoma 28–6 15–1 1st NCAA Sweet 16
2001–02 Oklahoma 32–4 14–2 1st NCAA Runner-Up
2002–03 Oklahoma 19–13 9–7 T–5th NCAA first round
2003–04 Oklahoma 24–9 9–7 6th NCAA second round
2004–05 Oklahoma 17–13 8–8 T–6th NCAA first round
2005–06 Oklahoma 31–5 16–0 1st NCAA Sweet 16
2006–07 Oklahoma 28–5 13–3 T–1st NCAA Sweet 16
2007–08 Oklahoma 22–9 11–5 T–3rd NCAA second round
2008–09 Oklahoma 32–5 15–1 1st NCAA Final Four
2009–10 Oklahoma 27–11 11–5 T–2nd NCAA Final Four
2010–11 Oklahoma 23–12 10–6 3rd NCAA Sweet 16
2011–12 Oklahoma 21–13 11–7 T–2nd NCAA second round
2012–13 Oklahoma 24–11 11–8 T–3rd NCAA Sweet 16
2013–14 Oklahoma 18–15 9–9 T–5th NCAA first round
2014–15 Oklahoma 21–12 13–5 2nd NCAA second round
2015–16 Oklahoma 22–11 11–7 T–4th NCAA second round
2016–17 Oklahoma 23–10 13–5 3rd NCAA second round
2017–18 Oklahoma 16–15 11–7 T–3rd NCAA first round
2018–19 Oklahoma 8–22 4–14 T-8th
2019–20 Oklahoma 12–18 5–13 9th
2020–21 Oklahoma 12–12 9–9 6th
Oklahoma: 513–294 (.636) 250–154 (.619)
Total: 513–294 (.636)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved 26 Sep 2015.
  2. ^ "Top five coaching candidates to take over at Oklahoma". ESPN.com. 2021-03-17. Retrieved 2021-03-17.
  3. ^ "Women's Basketball Alumni List". Oklahoma Christian University athletics. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  4. ^ Nykolaiszyn, Juliana (August 29, 2007). "Oral history interview with Sherri Coale". Inductees of the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame Oral History Project. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  5. ^ Emig, Geurin. "OU basketball coach Sherri Coale honored to be Iba Awards keynote speaker". tulsaworld.com. Tulsa World. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  6. ^ "Sherri Coale School Bio". soonersports.com. The University of Oklahoma. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  7. ^ Barry Tramel (2021-03-17). "Oklahoma women's basketball coach Sherri Coale retires after 25 seasons with Sooners". oklahoman.com. Retrieved 2021-03-17.
  8. ^ </https://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/event/p/sid/2901/_/2001_World_Championship_for_Junior_Women/index.html>
  9. ^ "FIFTH FIBA WOMEN'S U19/JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP -- 2001". Archived from the original on February 22, 2015.