OU had officially dropped women's basketball from their sports lineup in 1996.
The public announcement had been made.
They were not very good and there seemed to be little interest in the program.
This is a classic example of apathy.
I don't remember exactly what caused OU to change their mind, likely a small group who love the game made some noise.
Whatever caused it, OU decided to take one more stab at it.
They decided to look no further than Norman High School for the "last chance".
Sherri had taken a lackluster Norman HS program and transformed them it to a two-time state champion in just 6 years.
In the 19+ years she has spent at OU, Sherri has transformed a program that OU had decided to "pull the plug on" in to a perennial top 25 team and most of that 19 years, they have been a top 10 team.
Accomplishments:
Sixteen consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
Thirteen 20+ win seasons
Nine 24+ win seasons
Three 30+ win seasons
Nine Sweet 16+ appearances
Three Final Four appearances
Not bad for a program that was in hospice care the day before she was hired.
I think she has bought herself some time, based purely on her on-the-court accomplishments.
Granted, her performance has fallen off the last 2-3 years.
But that should serve as a wake-up call for her.
Regardless, from a dead program to the accomplishments above, she has earned more than a little time, in my opinion.
Let's make the position that the University of Oklahoma had created a little clearer. When the SAE chant went viral, it was an embarrassment to the University, and Boren, as well as the national SAE, reacted strongly and quickly to make it clear that such an attitude did ot reflect the opinions of the University of Oklahoma. The football team and coaches banded together to assure everyone that this was not reflective of the atmosphere on the team. But, the termination of the women's basketball program was not done by some drunken fraternity boys. It had been the presumably sober university administration along with the AD's office that had shown a complete lack of sensitivity to a hot button issue.
The program was reinstated immediately. But, it was far from anything that could be called successful. When they lost their coach, they didn't invest in a successful coach from another university,, or even a respected assistant coach at a national power. They hired a high school coach.
What had begun as a quagmire from which extrication would be almost impossible, turned into the luckiest hire the university has ever made. Sherri Coale, even with no recruiting base, found players that nobody else really wanted and turned them into a successful team. Then, she got a little lucky. She put together some local prospects with a Canadian and built a team that played quite well against what even Connecticut fans regard as the greatest team in basketball history. That team would have beaten anyone else by thirty, just as it usually does now.
The image problem that threatened to make a program impossible was turned into one of the most positive images in women's basketball. Sherri Coale is respected by everyone in the game, and the University of Oklahoma's women's basketball program may not win every national title, but they are respected as the way that a basketball program should be, even admitted by Geno upon her acceptance into the Hall of Fame. From a national disgrace to the pinnacle of what the sport should be is a huge transformation.
If you haven't noticed, Boren is trying to build the University's image, even has a specialty academic program under development that he hopes will compete with Harvard and Stanford. He even looked at the Pacific Twelve, hoping to affiliate with a conference more respected for academia. One program that has the image that he wants for the University is the women's basketball program.
Sherri doesn't hold Boren and Joe C up at the point of a gun. They pay her what she is worth to the University, according to what they value. She had a raise in 2014, hardly a good year, with an extension to 2020. He is concerned with more than titles. After all, we have been to three Final Fours in women's basketball since we last won a national title in football, and we are capable of winning titles in football. We have never won one in men's or women's basketball.
Joe C. made these comments about Patti Gasso:
Is Gasso a solid business decision at $350,000 per season? Will she drive in that much revenue to the OU softball program each year? No. But Castiglione knows you can't put a price on what Gasso means to the university, or the sport itself.
"It was much more than a monetary evaluation," he said. "That's part of it, but Patty has become a coach that has not just garnered national attention, but really has reached some hearts of people, not just throughout Oklahoma, but through this region and nationally.
"People watch what we're doing and more importantly watch how we're doing it and that's worth a lot more than we can cobble together for compensation. We really believe it was a much bigger decision for us."
Boren and Joe C. pay for more than titles. They pay for what it means to the university, knowing full well that softball and women's basketball are not profitable. Yet, the "declining" OU women's basketball program is still #12 in the NCAA in attendance.
What Sherri has done for the image of the sport at OU is somewhat difficult to value. It may be off the charts.
