Coale Announces the "Starting Five"

NORMAN, Okla. University of Oklahoma women's basketball head Coach Sherri Coale has announced the “Starting Five,” supporters whose gifts have established the first-ever endowed positions for the team, providing scholarships for student-athletes.

The “Starting Five” donors are the family of Jimmie Austin of Seminole in honor of his late wife, Marie; the Jim and Christy Everest family of Oklahoma City; the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation of Ardmore in honor of Mary Jane Noble; and Bob and Ann Coleman of San Antonio, Texas, as well as an anonymous donor.

OU President David L. Boren said, “The University is grateful to these exceptionally generous donors who have launched one of the leading endowment programs of its kind in the nation. The donors and those selected to be named in each scholarship are outstanding and inspirational role models for our students.”

Coach Coale said, “Our goal is to create a perpetual source of funding for the women's basketball program an idea that leads to self-sufficiency as well.

“The full scholarship support provided by these generous donors allows us to recruit the best and brightest student-athletes while increasing opportunities for mentoring and establishing special bonds that will tie generations of Sooners together,” Coale continued, noting that the program establishes an ongoing connection between the “Starting Five” family, the foundation player and the scholarship recipient, a current team member.

Austin, a native of Maud, was an all-State basketball player for Vamoosa High School. Upon graduation, she received an offer to play professional basketball for the Oklahoma Redheads but chose instead to marry her childhood sweetheart, Jimmie Austin, and start a family. Avid OU supporters, the Austins were instrumental in the renovation of the OU Golf Course. Their son, Paul, serves as an OU Regent, and their son, Jimmie Lynn, serves on the Advisory Board for the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Course.

The Colemans, successful business owners, have been involved in and supportive of a range of academic and athletic endeavors at OU. They were an integral part of the improvements to the Lloyd Noble Center, and the men's basketball practice facility is named for Bob and Ann Coleman. They are the former owners of Texace Corp., the number one manufacturer of U.S.-made golf caps, hats and visors. Bob Coleman, a native Oklahoman and OU accounting graduate, is the former president and CEO of the San Antonio Spurs professional basketball team.

Jim and Christy Everest are loyal supporters of both OU's academic and athletics programs. Among their gifts to OU was the lead gift for an indoor athletics training facility, which is named in their honor. The Everests established the Jimmy Everest Center at the OU Health Sciences Center in memory of their son, who was a patient at Children's Hospital. Christy Everest, chairman and CEO of the Oklahoma Publishing Co., is chairman of the OU Board of Regents. Jim Everest, an OU political science graduate, is a general partner of Everest Brothers in Oklahoma City.

Mary Jane Noble, an OU graduate, is a longtime fan and supporter of the women's basketball program at OU. The third member of the Noble family to serve on the OU Board of Regents, she was chairman of the board in 2002-2003. In 1972, the Noble Foundation provided OU with its first-ever

$1 million gift to help build Lloyd Noble Center. In 1999, the Noble Foundation's gift of $8.17 million to renovate and expand the center set a new national standard for philanthropic support of women's athletics and was, at the time, the largest single gift ever to OU athletics.

The Marie Austin Scholarship, which recognizes foundation player Stephanie Simon, was awarded to Lauren Shoush, Oklahoma City senior. Simon, a walk-on from Clinton, was a member of the first squad in Big 12 history to appear in a women's basketball Final Four and to have played for a national championship. She is currently an OU law student.

The Bob and Ann Coleman Scholarship recognizes Phylesha Whaley and was presented to Antoinette Wadsworth, Grand Prairie, Texas, senior. Whaley was Coale's first recruit, first All-American and first player to be drafted by the WNBA. The four-year letter winner is the only player in OU history to have ever scored 40 points in a single game.

The Jim and Christy Everest Scholarship recognizes Caton Hill of Ada and was presented to Erin Higgins, Oklahoma City junior. Hill, who holds the school record for double doubles with 33, graduated in the top ranks in 20 of 22 career categories. She became the only OU player, male or female, to score more than 1,500 points, grab 1,000-plus rebounds and pocket 200 or more steals in a career. She is now an OU medical student.

The Mary Jane Noble Scholarship recognizes Stacey Dales-Schuman and was awarded to Laura Andrews, Washington, Okla., senior. Dales-Schuman is the most decorated women's basketball player in OU history. After playing for the Washington Mystics for three seasons, she retired from basketball and began a career with ESPN as a courtside reporter for men's basketball games and an in-studio analyst for the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.

Teresa Turner, a 1981 OU graduate, is the recognized foundation player for the endowment funded by an anonymous donor whose scholarship was awarded to Beky Preston, Albuquerque, N.M., senior. Turner, who lettered three times in women's basketball at OU, was one of the first female student-athletes to receive a scholarship at the university. She has been a staff member at OU for more than 10 years, serving the Athletics Department as an academic counselor for the football team as well as assisting the academic support and student life service.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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