Oklahoma women’s basketball coach Sherri Coale, who led Sooners to three appearances in the Women’s Final Four and won six Big 12 titles in the regular season, announced her retirement on Wednesday.
“Being the head coach at the University of Oklahoma has been the privilege of my life,” Coale said in a statement released by the university. “… I am grateful to my players for letting me coach them. This is a gift I have never taken easily and a joy different from any I have ever known. I want to he knows they left pieces of me and I’m better for it. “
Coale, 56, was Sooners’ coach from the 1996-97 season, leading OU to four conference tournament titles. The team, using primarily a seven-player rotation, finished 12-12 this season.
“It’s never easy to leave, no matter how great it is to run, because something is always left behind. It’s hard to leave these players,” Coale said. “This experienced pile of great competitors who have built their wings in the fiercest wind have given way to the sacredness of the team. This season will always be one tattooed on my heart. But this is the trick of the sport and the magnificent gift of the team – enter you and it never goes away. Good luck, good luck, good luck to me. “
Coale, who led Oklahoma to 19 NCAA appearances, had an overall record of 512-293 at the Sooners. The Big 12 coach of the year four times reached the Final Four in 2002, 2009 and 2010.
She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
“Sherri Coale encouraged everyone, from players to colleagues, to ‘leave your story better than you found it,'” sporting director Joe Castiglione said in a statement. “It simply came to our notice then. Its transformative impact on women’s basketball at OU, which in turn has inspired generations of young girls across our country to play this sport is almost impossible to measure. There are certainly milestones, from the introduction of renowned venues to the Final Fours to conference titles for all Americans and beyond, but it was best remembered to raise the profile of the program to the nation’s elite. “
In August, Coale apologized after some former black players wrote on social media that they felt there was an atmosphere of racial insensitivity in her program.
“Throughout my career, I have been proud of the work I have done in the yard and the commitment to the personal growth of the women I have been responsible for leading,” said Coale, who is white. part of his apology. in august. “Although I have always intended to express my concern for others, it is clear that there have been times when my intention has not been the same as my impact – for that, I sincerely apologize.”
The Sooners had a 19-year appearance at NCAA tournaments ending in 2019 after finishing 8-22.
Coale also served as head coach for US basketball, leading the women’s national team to the gold medal at the 2013 World University Games.