Q&A: Summer of Sherri Coale

NORMAN -- For most, summer is a time to enjoy relaxation and step back to reflect. For Oklahoma head coach Sherri Coale the summer of 2015 has been a memorable one that she will never forget.

A lot has happened for the 20th-year head coach since the last time the Sooners took the court back in March. Point guard Gabbi Ortiz helped Team USA to the gold medal at the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championships, the OU Board of Regents approved a plan for strength and performance additions to the Lloyd Noble Center, Coale's staff conducted summer training and most notably Coale received word that she would be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in June 2016.

That doesn't include new rule changes by the NCAA for women's basketball this season, which moves the game to a 10-minute, four-quarter format, or former Sooner Danielle Robinson making the WNBA All-Star Game once again. Not to mention summer recruiting trips around the country.

Pretty busy, right?

Coale recently sat down with Sooner Sports TV to talk about how her young team from a year ago matured during summer practice and what it was like to learn she would be inducted into the WBHOF.

QUICK HITS

Q: How did you feel your team progressed during summer practice and where did you see the most improvement?

A: “I love the summer access, especially for incoming kids because you get an opportunity to get to know them where they are most comfortable in which is the gym with the ball in their hands. It's also a ready unique learning environment because you get to remove all of those expectations. In the summer, we try to get our kids to fail fast and play free. It's been really good; I love it because of the access and the quality time we get to teach.”

Q: Your team was one of the youngest in the nation a year ago. Was it fun to watch them grow throughout the season?

A: “It's so fun to watch teams grow. These guys were so young last year and growing so fast that their skin hardly fit them. It was crazy to watch them improve right before our very own eyes. In the summer, it was nice to see them settle in and have a bit of confidence about them. Vivi (Vionise Pierre-Louis) had a terrific summer, the way she handled herself and communicated with her teammates it was a new level she was on. I saw a big change in Gioya Carter in the way she saw herself with her teams; the role she saw with her teammates. T'ona Edwards grew by leaps and bound. Gabbi was gone with USA Basketball and she had to be our point guard the entire summer. The way she took on the responsibility and the way she worked was great to see. All of our players were very intentional about where they wanted to grow in their game.”

What I think you will see as (Peyton Little) grows and matures as a player is her ability to make the people around her better.- Sherri Coale

Q: What was your challenge to Peyton Little this summer?

A: “Peyton's presence was immediate, it was strong and it lasted (last season). That's really rare. That's also why she won Big 12 Newcomer of the Year but I really think she's just touched the surface of what she's going to be capable of doing for us. She scored in bunches and is an opportunistic player. What I think you will see as she grows and matures as a player is her ability to make the people around her better.”

Q: How much pride do you have when you see the success Gabbi Ortiz had with Team USA at the FIBA U19 World Championships?

A: “Any time you play international basketball and you represent your country and put on that jersey that says USA, you can't help but grow. Gabbi has excelled in that environment. Her three coaches couldn't say enough about her this summer which didn't surprise me because there hasn't been a more coachable kid than Gabbi. What I've observed from all of our players who have participated, there's just a little extra something in everything they do and that's from being at that elite level. She can bring that back to our gym and it will be fun to see how Gabbi infuses that with her teammates.”

Q: The Lloyd Noble Center will be getting some upgrades when it comes to strength and performance in the new few years. How excited are you for that?

A: “Facilities are essential, there's no doubt about it. They speak to your commitment to the development of student-athletes. When you're out recruiting, talk to parents, that's what you wanted them to know that the University of Oklahoma is get committed to being successful. At the end of the day, it is a facility. It has to have life breathed into it by professionals who know what they're doing. I think that's where we have the edge. We have great facilities with amazing people manning them.”

Basketball is a team sport and coaching is a journey that you only go down with people locked arm and arm with you. I've been so fortunate to be surrounded by great people at the administrative level, my coaching staff and of course our players.- Sherri Coale

Q: Has the announcement of the 2016 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Class set in yet?

A: “It's stills surreal. Honestly, I haven't had a single conversation yet in which I thought this was really happening. I'm waiting for someone to go 'just kidding'. What it does, it validates people that I've been surrounded by with this program. From Marita Hynes to Phylesha Whaley to Jan Ross, Pam Decosta and Chad Thrailkill. It's a group. Basketball is a team sport and coaching is a journey that you only go down with people locked arm and arm with you. I've been so fortunate to be surrounded by great people at the administrative level, my coaching staff and of course our players. I told each one of that texted me and told them that this doesn't happen if you don't score, you don't rebound, you don't defend. They are the ones that should be recognized. I'm honored and I'm obviously thrilled, and I'm still a little bit in shock of the whole thing.”

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