Completed Event: Women's Basketball at #23 Alabama on February 15, 2026 , Win , 79, to, 71
Final
Women's Basketball
79
at #23 Alabama
71
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Meet Lyndsey Cloman
September 02, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Sept. 2, 2009
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OU Video Library | NORMAN, Okla. -- For Sherri Coale's women's basketball team, the preseason is under way as the team recently began its strength and conditioning workouts with Tim Overman.
SoonerSports.com met with incoming freshman center Lyndsey Cloman in the first part of several features that will be published leading up when the season tips-off in November.
Cloman, a 6-3 center from Taft High School in San Antonio, Texas, will team will fellow freshman Joanna McFarland to help fill the void left by the departure of the Paris twins, who helped carry OU to a Big 12 title and Final Four appearance in 2009.
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So who is Lyndsey Cloman?
I'm a free spirit. I love life. There's a lot of culture in my household. My father's African-American and my mother is Mexican-American so we have all the food and everything, which is the best part. I'm really outgoing. I just love life. I grew up in San Antonio my whole life and both of my parents are from there and grew up there, so there's a lot of love for San Antonio.
Any former athletes in the family?
My dad played some college basketball at UTEP under Don Haskins. So he got a good workout.
Then there's no sympathy for you after a tough practice?
None at all. Whatsoever.
Coach Coale doesn't make a secret about what she expects to be a freshman's role on the team. What did she tell you?
Basically, I have to come in and be strong. Jo (McFarland) and I are a really big part of this team with us just having 10 players. We can't have the mindset that we can play like freshmen. We have to play like juniors.
It's just what we're going to have to do. No ifs, ands, or buts.
How was that for motivation?
(Laughs) It worked! Sometimes as a freshman you have all these extra things on your shoulders -- class, workouts, all this stuff you have to do -- but that's part of being a college athlete. I think we're some of the most privileged people in all of the country. We get so much, but we do have to work for it.
What's the greatest adjustment between high school and college basketball?
Just the pace. Most definitely, the pace. Being 6-foot-3, you don't have to see 6-3 players every day. In high school, you don't have people like Abi guarding you. So, just the size and the pace.
What's the toughest adjustment outside of basketball?
Classwork. I expect to make good grades. I know my parents expect that. Staying on top of it is going to be important.
What classes are you taking this semester?
I'm a broadcasting and communications major. I'm taking an honors mass communications class, Religious Studies, Gateway to College Learning and a health class.
What's special about your number?
Long story. Forty-four was the very first number I ever had. Started out in second-grade basketball and I was 44. I did play soccer and softball, but just stuck with basketball. I changed it to 5 and then wore 1 forever. In high school, just by chance, was assigned 44. My boyfriend was 42 and I was 44, so it kind of worked out. I just kept it.
How did you start out playing sports?
When I was younger, I was pretty much a beanpole. And then when I hit 4...
Wait. People were calling you a beanpole when you were 3?
I promise you. I was. I was a little bitty thing. When I hit 4 I started gaining weight and getting taller and my parents wanted to get me active. I started playing soccer and was horrible. I was the goalie and I would pick flowers and sit out on the field. It wasn't that great. Played t-ball. Could never hit the ball off the tee. But then I played softball. I was very good at softball, I have to say, but I wasn't liking the heat. I don't need a tan. Basketball stuck with me. You got to workout in the air conditioning, so why not?
One of your favorite movies is Beauty and the Beast. Explain that.
Love, love, love, love it. I am a hopeless romantic. Love things like The Notebook, any love stories, things like that. Beauty and the Beast was the first of the movie like that. Loved everything about it.
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