Oklahoma women’s basketball coach Sherri Coale, who led the Sooners to three appearances in the Women’s Final Four and won six titles in the Big 12 regular season, announced her retirement on Wednesday.
“Being the head coach of the University of Oklahoma was the privilege of my life,” said Coale in a statement released by the university. “… I thank my players for letting me coach them. This is a gift I never took lightly and a joy unlike any I have ever known. I want them to know that they left pieces of themselves in me and I am better off. this. “
Coale, 56, has been the Sooners’ coach since the 1996-97 season, leading OU to four conference tournament titles. The team, mainly using a seven-player rotation, finished 12-12 this season.
“It is never easy to leave, no matter how big the thing you are running for, because something always falls behind. It is difficult to leave these players,” said Coale. “This seasoned bunch of brave competitors who have built their wings in the most violent of winds have paved the way for the sanctity of the team. This season will always be a tattoo on my heart. and it never goes away. Lucky, lucky, lucky me. “
Coale, who led Oklahoma to 19 NCAA tournaments, had an overall record of 512-293 with the Sooners. The four-time coach of the 12 biggest players of the year made it to the Final Four in 2002, 2009 and 2010.
She was included in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
“Sherri Coale encouraged everyone, from players to colleagues, to ‘make their story better than found’,” said athletic director Joe Castiglione in a statement. “She did as she was told. Her transformative impact on OU women’s basketball, which in turn inspired generations of girls across our state to practice the sport, is almost impossible to measure. Certainly there are milestones, from inductions in the hall from fame to Final Fours for conference titles for all Americans and beyond, but it was the elevation of the program’s profile to the country’s elite that will be most remembered. “
In August, Coale apologized after some former black players wrote on social media that they felt there was an atmosphere of racial insensitivity in his program.
“Throughout my career, I have been proud of the work I have done on the court and the commitment to the personal growth of the women I was responsible for leading,” said Coale, who is white, as part of her apology in August. “Although I have always intended to express care for others, it is clear that there were times when my intention was not the same as my impact – so I sincerely apologize.”
The Sooners had a sequence of 19 years of participation in NCAA tournaments that ended in 2019 after finishing 8-22.
Coale also served as the head coach of US basketball, leading the women’s team to a gold medal at the 2013 World University Games.