Link for entire Feb 1 article
https://newsok.com/article/5621824/ou-basketball-sherri-coale-and-her-sooners-facing-harsh-reality-brutal-season-what-gives

Excerpts from article
"OU's streak of 19 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is most certainly in jeopardy. So is the run of 19 consecutive winning seasons. Not since Sherri Coale's second season as head coach have the Sooners had a losing record.

Spring 2015 Only two players completed their eligibility that spring, so OU only signed two players in the 2015 Fall incoming class. Freshman Ijeoma Odimgbe was a project in the post while mid-year transfer Morgan Rich was a guard who was expected to help more quickly.

Aug 2015 Senior Nicole Kornet decided to transfer. The timing left the Sooners short-handed, unable to fill her spot.

May 2017 Sooners lost the 2016 recruiting class entirely. Chelsea Dungee and Nancy Mulkey, who had both played significant roles as freshmen, transferred out of OU in less than a week's time. They were 2 of 25 players in the Big 12 that transferred after that season.

Sept 2017 Rich suffered a season-ending knee injury. Her health eventually forced her to retire.

Sea change In college women's basketball, players have always had the ability to transfer, but for decades, transfers were few and far between.

Former Texas Tech head coach Marsha Sharp spent 24 years at Texas Tech before retiring in 2006. She had a total of 3 players transfer out and 2 transfer in, most notably Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes. Currently, the Lady Raiders have seven transfers on their roster.

"It's been a real game-changer in terms of trying to keep teams together," said Sharp, now an associate athletic director at Texas Tech. "It seems like because of that ... a lot of programs stay young a lot. You don't have some of those senior leaders because kids just kind of come and go."

- Jenni Carlson, The Oklahoman

I wonder what BaylorDan thinks about all this

Sherri Coale = gone after this season.

Nah, OU won't can Sherri after this year. She has banked a whole lot of good will and respect over 19 years of Big Dance tickets. But I think it's plenty reasonable to expect the OU brass will make things clear that she doesn't have unlimited time to right the ship. There are s lot of Sooner fans are livid that Sherri was allowed hire her son Colton as an Assistant Coach. This guy had zero experience as a coach of any kind. Well, he did play high school basketball, though...

I've got to wonder is she got complacent. She can't blame the school, tradition, or facilities.

GarlandBear84 said:

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I've got to wonder is she got complacent. She can't blame the school, tradition, or facilities.

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About 10 days ago a poster on the Sooner board summed it up like this: Laziness, poor recruiting, horrible assistant coaches and now here we are.

GarlandBear84 said:

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ScottS said:

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I wonder what BaylorDan thinks about all this

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He finally admits Mulkey is a better coach.

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After 8 Big 12 titles in a row he's finally changed his mind eh? I doubt he's still fully convinced.

He reads this board, but doesn't post anymore.

setshot said:

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Baylor Dan is a real treasure and I miss his puckish humor and his long history with sports at Baylor and his familiarity with high school sports down in the Houston/Clear Creek vicinity. I think that he liked to yank a few chains now and then, including mine, and he did it as fun. Besides that, he could take it as well as he could hand it out.

He was the one who emailed me and urged me to subscribe to this new message board site which, he said, was superior in every way to the old Baylorfans board, so here I am. Blame me on Baylor Dan.....

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that son of a......!











j/k of course

setshot said:

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Baylor Dan is a real treasure and I miss his puckish humor and his long history with sports at Baylor and his familiarity with high school sports down in the Houston/Clear Creek vicinity. I think that he liked to yank a few chains now and then, including mine, and he did it as fun. Besides that, he could take it as well as he could hand it out.

He was the one who emailed me and urged me to subscribe to this new message board site which, he said, was superior in every way to the old Baylorfans board, so here I am. Blame me on Baylor Dan.....

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I was hoping someone would email you, setshot! I didn't know how but was glad you were here

Coale has peaked out. OU understands it but will not replace her until her contract runs out.

Edmond is correct. Their facility makes the FC look like the eye candy at the Playboy mansion.

Johnny Bear said:

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Sherri Coale = gone after this season.

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OU is exceptionally young. In two years, they are going to be scary good again.

I don't think OU will be significantly better, but it would help the conference if they were.

I don't believe that Oklahoma's current group has the talent to be a top of the conference team. Usually, when there is a young team like that, they compete with some teams, run out of gas sometimes, and occasionally put on a performance that really shows of the potential. I don't see that potential this year. Except for the game against Tech, they have hardly been competitive in conference play. They got blasted by a mediocre Kansas State team, and embarrassed by Iowa State. Their best shot at a win recently was against Kansas, who was missing their best player, but they couldn't even pull that out. A program of that stature should never have a losing season, much less a season where they will be lucky to win 7 games. They won't be able to recruit with those kinds of results. At this point the Sherri Coale era has runs its course, and it is time for some new blood.

Selfishly, a part of me doesn't want her, and her son. to leave.

CavalryRoadie said:

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Selfishly, a part of me doesn't want her, and her son. to leave.

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So far this season in B12 play, 97% of their scoring is coming from freshmen and sophomores.

I understand your point. I just don't agree they are going to be substantially better - at least, in my opinion, not improved enough to challenge for a top 1-4 spot in the Big 12.

New leadership might change the result, perhaps, but I don't believe SC is going anywhere for a year or two regardless of how their season goes from here.

And to be fair - Coale's 1 win against Mulkey since that time period was after Baylor had clinched the Big 12 - I recall watching that game from a hospital bed and with nothing else to do, I wasn't even interested in the game.

Coale is one of the finest ambassadors we have for collegiate women's bball, but, for whatever reason, OU women's bball is in such a deep hole in terms of talent that I don't think she can survive it.

How that team played UCONN competitively is a mystery.

Coale needs to ride off into the sunset of an upper level job in OU Athletics and remain the ambassador she is. She will not get any legitimate offers to go elsewhere to coach. Coaching is not her strength.. Her success in coaching was tied to the players she got to come to Norman. OU simply isn't offering the appeal to recruits any longer and national success is too far in the rear view mirror for the campus to appeal (see TTech) for same narrative.

When you see OU and TTech at the bottom of the conference, you realize their programs' times have passed them by. That's regrettable, but true.

LIB,MR BEARS said:

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Johnny Bear said:

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Sherri Coale = gone after this season.

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OU is exceptionally young. In two years, they are going to be scary good again.

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Yes they're very young this season and it's certainly reasonable to assume they will get better, possibly by quite a bit, but I don't know what you're seeing that leads you to believe the group they currently have is going to for sure be "scary good again" - in the absence of a killer recruiting class or two that beats the crap out of what Coale's classes have been over the last few years.

For a school like Oklahoma with big(ger) aspirations (and past success), the question becomes "whom do you hire" should Coale be shown the door? Maybe you get lucky with an 'up and coming' hire, but the established coaches are less likely to leave in the WBB ranks than what you may see in the men's game. For example, would a program like Oklahoma take a change on a circa-1999 Kim Mulkey-Robertson (someone without head coaching experience)...or would they be looking for someone who's led a program into an occasional top-25 spot in the rankings...or would they be looking for a fully established head coach?

BaylorDan know this stuff.

There seems to be a trend with student athletes transferring schools (just look at ou & bama football). I don't have any facts.

Transferring just seems to be the response when a player believes they aren't being treated/considered fairly, & scores of other reasons.

Of course, injuries matter, as well.

Duke has been hit by both & are currently tied for 11th place in the ACC w a 2-7 record.

https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2019/01/three-keys-to-get-duke-womens-basketball-back-on-track

FINAL
Oklahoma 74 @ Oklahoma State 84

LIB,MR BEARS said:

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Johnny Bear said:

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Sherri Coale = gone after this season.

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OU is exceptionally young. In two years, they are going to be scary good again.

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I agree. OU has some fine, young players and will only be better in the next couple of years. Coale will be around for years to come and OU will be much more competitive.

Watched most of that game last night. I thought both teams looked awful. How did OSU hang with us??? The freshman PG throwing in 5 3s probably helped...

hitmanmw said:

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Watched most of that game last night. I thought both teams looked awful. How did OSU hang with us??? The freshman PG throwing in 5 3s probably helped...

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They didn't necessarily hang with us. BU's shooting was just god awful. Made them look a whole lot better.