Focus Shifts for Women's Hoops

April 19, 2009

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Sherri Coale still has in her office a scrap of paper that once hung on her high-school bulletin board. On it is a message that while anyone can be called a leader, no one can be forced to lead.

That sentiment came to mind when she thought about freshman Whitney Hand.

Just days after Oklahoma had been knocked out of the Final Four and four-time All-America center Courtney Paris' career had ended, it was Hand that took charge of the future by contacting incoming freshmen Joanna McFarland and Lyndsey Cloman.

"The national championship game was barely over with and in the books when both of those two freshmen received a very challenging text message from Whitney Hand," Coale said on a conference call last week. "Those two just about left their high schools on a dime and headed to Norman, they're so excited about being a part of what we have a chance to do next year."

Hand is a big part of why the Sooners have reason to feel positive about the post-Paris era. Beyond providing a threat from 3-point range, Hand quickly developed into a vocal presence on the team, even if she wasn't a team captain or even a senior.

Which brings us back to that piece of paper Coale has kept all these years.

"I think the essence of that is that leaders lead. They just do what they do," Coale said. "You can teach, and yes, you can enhance it. I do believe that leadership can be taught and that kids can become better at it.

"But some kids are innately wound to do that, to take charge, to have high expectations of other people, to see a glass half-full. Whitney is all those things."

Hand started all 33 games of her freshman year, averaging 9.2 points and shooting 37 percent from 3-point range. Some of her best performances came in the biggest games, matching a career-high 20 points in the Sooners' first ever win against Tennessee and then surpassing that with a 22-point outing against Pittsburgh in the NCAA tournament round of 16.

"I can't say enough about her poise and her demeanor and her production as a true freshman," Coale said. "I think you'll see nothing but immense improvement on all those fronts because that's the kind of kid she is. She is never satisfied and she is always in the gym."

With Paris and her twin sister, Ashley, leaving a void at both post positions as they move on to the WNBA, Coale will have a guard-oriented team next season. She hopes to create a more uptempo style that can make the most of the speed of point guard Danielle Robinson and Nyeshia Stevenson on the wing, and perhaps create extra openings for Hand.

Amanda Thompson, who is not expected to need surgery on a foot injury that nagged her through the postseason, could move to power forward while Coale is counting on reserve Abi Olajuwon to get in shape and become a factor at center. McFarland and Cloman are both 6-foot-2 and will compete with Carlee Roethlisberger for time in the frontcourt, too.

The Sooners will face a challenging schedule next season, including a trip to Tennessee on Jan. 3 and a visit by national champion Connecticut to Norman on Feb. 15. And Coale said it should be motivation that the Sooners probably won't be picked to win the Big 12.

"It's not where someone ranks them, it's not what the public thinks. It's always individually and collectively what do they think and how do they feel about their chances for success," Coale said. "I'll tell you right now: This group could care less what the rest of the world wants to project them to do or be.

"They know. They know what they can do."

That's not to say that the Parises won't be missed after remarkable careers that brought only the second Final Four appearance in school history. Courtney also racked up a slew of individual records, including an unprecedented run of 112 double-doubles in a row and the most rebounds in NCAA history.

"You need only to look to statistical categories and numbers of records that they've broken and hold to see how indelible their careers here have been," Coale said. "I think they leave a mark numerically that may not ever be touched, particularly Courtney's.

"It's been an era of dominant low post play ... sort of a different Oklahoma than people have become accustomed to, and an era where we received a great deal of national attention."

The last bit of that came with a loss to Louisville in the national semifinals.

"It's such a hard thing to do," Courtney Paris said. "It's always so hard to lose your last game and to know it's over. ... I just know we had a great year and it was so much fun, and I had just a good time and I was around great people, so it was worth it."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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