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 Wednesday.
“Being a 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 train. This is a gift I have never taken lightly and a joy unlike any other I have ever known. I want them to know that they have left pieces of themselves. and I’m better for it. “
Coale, 56, has been the Sooners coach since the 1996-97 season, leading OU to four conference tournament titles. The team, with a seven-player main rotation, finished 12-12 this season.
“It’s never easy to leave no matter how big you’re running, because something is always behind you. It’s hard to leave those players,” Coale said. “This experienced group of sandy competitors who built their wings in the fiercest wind paved the way for the sacredness of the team. This season will always be tattooed on the heart. But this is the trick about the sport and the magnificent gift. of the team … he enters you and he never leaves. Good luck, good luck, good luck to me “.
Coale, who led Oklahoma to 19 appearances in the NCAA tournament, had an overall record of 512-293 with the Sooners. The four-time great coach of the year 12 reached the Final Four in 2002, 2009 and 2010.
She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
“Sherri Coale has encouraged everyone, from players to teammates, to‘ leave your story better than you found it, ’” athletic director Joe Castiglione said in a statement. “She continued her talk. Her transformative impact on the women’s basketball of the OU which, in turn, inspired generations of girls from all over our state to practice this sport is almost impossible to measure. There are certainly milestones. , from induction into fame halls to Final Fours to conference titles for all Americans and beyond, but it was the elevation of the program’s profile to the nation’s elite that best will remember “.
In August, Coale apologized after some former black players wrote on social media that they felt there was an atmosphere of racial insensitivity on their show.
“Throughout my career, I’ve been proud of the work I’ve done on the track and the commitment to the personal growth of the women I’ve been responsible for leading,” said Coale, who is white as part of your apologies. in August. “While I have always intended to express care 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 run of NCAA tournament appearances ending in 2019 after finishing between 8 and 22.
Coale also served as head coach of American basketball, leading the women’s national team to the gold medal at the 2013 World University Games.