The Foundation

Walk into the film room at the Oklahoma women's basketball's practice facility and a quote from Bernard De Chartes immediately jumps out to you.

It reads:

“We are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size.”

For many, the shoulders that the program sits on is that of an undersized, under-recruited, scrappy 5-10 center from Slayton, Texas named Phylesha Whaley.

Whaley was the first Sooner to accomplish plenty of feats at the University of Oklahoma, but it is her designation as Sherri Coale's first recruit that helped revitalize a program and help lead it to where it stands today.

The Road to Norman

As a high school senior, Whaley was looking for just a chance to play collegiate basketball. Growing up in West Texas and living in the shadows of several powerhouse Division I program, Whaley was lightly recruited by many of her in-state programs.

But suddenly in April 1996, enter the University of Oklahoma and its brand-new head coach, who had a master plan and was willing take to take a chance during the late stages of the recruiting cycle.

“When I came on my official visit, it was the first time I had ever flown on a plane,” Whaley said as she described her first trip to Norman. “Coach Coale was phenomenal. My mom fell in love with her the minute she met her.”

OU's coaching staff poured over Whaley's film from high school for hours upon hours, trying to find that one thing that would catch their eyes.

“(Coale Coale) wasn't sold on that game film at all,” Whaley laughed. “But she took a chance."

"There was something about her eyes that said she would run through a wall for us. At that time, there probably could be no greater trait."
- Head Coach Sherri Coale

“I probably had 40 people watch her video and I'm not exaggerating,” Coale said. “We watched her state tournament film over and over again. We loved the kid and we were looking for something that would foreshadow what she could do on the floor and we just couldn't find it on that game tape.”

It turned it out, they just needed to look into Whaley's eyes to see what they were getting.

“There was something about her eyes that said she would run through a wall for us,” Coale described. “At that time, there probably could be no greater trait.”

5-22

The first year was not easy for either Coale or Whaley. The Sooners finished the 1996-97 season with a 5-22 record and just one win in Big 12 play. Practices were long and success came few and far between.

“That first year was rough. Practices were so hard. They are nothing like that anymore I promise, but that's how it is when you're rebuilding program,” Whaley stated. “There's not a day goes by that I don't reflect on the season.”

But as the season went along, Coale knew she had something special in an undersized post player that battled each night on the floor.

OU went just 5-22 in Whaley's freshman season, but hard work would soon produce success.

“No matter how hard we made it, we always knew Phylesha would believe and that she would set the stage. That's a tremendous luxury for a coach and I probably didn't appreciate that as much then as I do now,” Coale said.

In the offseason, the Sooners landed another recruit that would help change the landscape of women's basketball at Oklahoma ? all thanks to the first recruit of the Coale era.

“We actually told Stacey (Dales), ?You want to come to Oklahoma so you can play with (Phylesha).' We put ?34' out there in front of Stacey and told her that this is the kind of person that would be your teammate for the rest of your life.”

The next season, OU won eight games. The following year, Whaley and Dales guided the Sooners to the WNIT in 1999 as Oklahoma finished with a winning record of 15-14.

Progress began to build momentum for what was next.

Setting the Foundation

With three starters returning and their senior leader back for one more year, Whaley and the Sooners set out to establish their legacy during the 2000 season. The goal was in front of them: make the NCAA Tournament and win the Big 12 title.

That season the Sooners started strong by winning their first 10 conference games behind Whaley.

The fearless senior was OU's go-to player, averaging 20.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game to earn the program's first-ever Big 12 Player of the Year honor. But the award and the accomplishments did not stop there.

Midway through the season, the Sooners made their first appearance in the AP poll in over 15 years, but after a couple of stumbles down the stretch, three games remained that would define the season and set the stage for the future.

At Kansas State, Whaley led the Sooners with 28 points and 12 rebounds.

Against Kansas, the senior combined with LaNeisha Caufield to score 45 of OU's 88 points in thrilling home win over the Jayhawks.

But in her final home game against Bedlam rival Oklahoma State, Whaley saved one of her most complete performances for the last time she would ever step on the court at Lloyd Noble Center.

Trailing at halftime, the Sooners put the ball in the hands of their senior leader like they hand done plenty of times over the last four seasons. She delivered, playing nearly all 40 minutes en route to scoring 22 points, pulling down seven rebounds and dishing five assists.

The win sealed OU's first-ever Big 12 title, but it was the celebration after the game that sticks with Whaley.

To her surprise, every member on OU's roster dawned a shirt with Whaley's image on the back to honor her career during Senior Day festivities.

(1) Whaley and her teammates celebrate OU's first Big 12 title; (2) Whaley's teammates with a special tribute; (3) The Sooners hoist the Big 12 trophy.

The first player in the Coale era to score over 2,000 points, the little-recruited, undersized post player got even better news at the end of the afternoon as she grasped the Big 12 Championship trophy ? Whaley was named an All-American.

Tears of joy immediately began to fall on the hardwood of her home court. But to her the day was not about her individual accomplishments.

“This season is still not over,” Whaley declared to the crowd.

And she was right. OU's first NCAA Tournament in nearly two decades was on the horizon. The first of many in a run that still continues to this day.

Championship Legacy

As the Sooners prepared for their first NCAA Tournament game of the Coale era, OU's senior leader soaked it all in. OU would travel to West Lafayette, Ind., for the first and second round, home of the defending NCAA champions Purdue.

But first, OU would have to get past a talented BYU team in their first taste of the Big Dance.

Once again, Whaley delivered by scoring 33 points, which would remain OU's single-game NCAA Tournament scoring record for 14 years, against the Cougars to help OU advance to a date with the Boilermakers.

On a Monday night at Mackey Arena, Whaley would not leave the court as the Sooners shocked the basketball word by topping the Boilermarkers on their home floor, 76-74.

A program that was left for dead 10 years before and had a losing record just three seasons prior was going to play in the Sweet 16.

Foundation laid. For years to come.

“We built it all on her shoulders. There is no way we make three Final Fours and 17 straight NCAA Tournaments without her.”
- Sherri Coale

The Sooners have appeared in 17 straight NCAA tournaments, won five more Big 12 regular season titles, made the Final Four three times over and advanced to the Sweet 16 nine times. None of which would have happened if it was for the impact ?34' made on the program.

“We built it all on her shoulders,” Coale stated. “My best day in terms as a head basketball coach in terms of recruiting was day one. I've never recruited a better kid and a more important kid than Phylesha. She was and is everything that you would hope to build a program upon. There is no way we make three Final Fours and 17 straight NCAA Tournaments without her.”

When Whaley returns to campus, every Oklahoma player knows her story. They all understand the impact and that they stand on the shoulders of a giant.

But for Phylesha Whaley, it is her time at the University of Oklahoma that still impacts her to this day.

“More than anything, once you play at Oklahoma and you leave, you're still a part of the family,” Whaley said. “You truly have family for life. You can't buy that or get that from every school, but you can get it here at the University of Oklahoma.”

This is the second in a four-part series celebrating Black History Month this February:

Michael Pace
Baseball, 1977