Sherri Coale – Head Coach OU Women’s Basketball
Rare is the coach who embraces the balance of student and athlete like Sherri Coale. Even fewer teams have had success while emphasizing the books on the same level as the sport.
The symmetry is a trademark of Coale’s program.
She meticulously prepares her athletes to excel in the classroom and on the hardwood. In essence, master the game of life and the challenges presented on the court will fall like dominoes.
Those obstacles have routinely been bulldozed during Coale’s 19 years as the head coach of Oklahoma.
The numbers speak for themselves.
Take for example the six Big 12 Regular Season Championships, 58 All-Big 12 Team selections, the 103 Academic All-Big 12 honors, the four Big 12 Tournament Championships, the 14 All-District Academic Team members, the 16 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, the four Academic All-America Team Members, 13 All-Americans and nine Sweet 16 appearances.
The foundation was laid years ago during a humble upbringing in the oil mining town of Healdton, Okla. Those morals have stood as the roots of Oklahoma women’s basketball for nearly two decades.
Now they are flourishing on an elite level.
That progress and consistent success has elevated Coale to elite status in college basketball as well a spot in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016.
Coale isn’t the only coach in her household. Her husband Dane, whom she met while at OC, was formerly the head baseball coach at Purcell High School. She married the former OCU baseball player in June 1987. The couple has two children, son Colton, 23, and daughter, Chandler, 19. The former Sherri Buben and her brother, Jack, are the children of Beverly Stash and Joe Buben. Jack has 13-year-old twins, Jackson and Jaycie.