Oklahoma women's basketball coach Sherri Coale is retiring after 25 years leading the program.
Coale is a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and will be inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame this summer.
She led three Oklahoma teams to the Final Four, and the Sooners reached the national title game in 2002.
She is a four-time Big 12 Coach of the Year who led the Sooners to six Big 12 regular-season and four Big 12 tournament titles.
“In April of 1996, I accepted this, my dream job,” Coale said in a press release. “As a native Oklahoman, I was pretty sure I had died and gone to heaven. Though the task would not be for the faint of heart, I just wanted to build a program that this great state and this storied institution could be proud of. Twenty-five years later, I still cannot believe the ride Oklahoma women’s basketball has taken me on.”
She finished her college coaching career with a 512-293 record.
“There have always been other things I want to do,” Coale said. “I’m ready to explore those things and I’m ready to run toward unfettered days with my brand-new beautiful granddaughter. Twenty-five years just feels right in my bones and in my soul.”
She began her coaching career at Norman High School, leading the team to two Class 6A state titles, according to The AP.
She took over as head coach at Oklahoma in 1996.
