GDC
6/2/2006, 05:23 PM
Business is good for Coale, Sooners
By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
6/2/2006
For a brief period in 1990, the University of Oklahoma dissolved its women's basketball program. Ticket sales were barely above zero and the Sooners were not competitive.
Now, with coaching changes having occurred within the men's programs at OU and Oklahoma State, the Oklahoma women currently rate as this state's most formidable Division I program.
Count on it -- the Sherri Coale-coached Sooners will be on the short list of teams receiving 2006-07 preseason No. 1 votes. OU is positioned to join Connecticut, Tennessee and Duke at the most elite level of women's basketball.
Business was good last season. In Coale's 10th season, the Big 12 champion Sooners were 19-0 against league opponents, finishing with 31 victories overall and a No. 7 national ranking.
Business is even better now. In addition to returning the nation's most dynamic post player, sophomore center Courtney Paris, the Sooners welcome an incoming freshman guard, 6-foot Amanda Thompson of Chicago, who could push OU to the national championship. Another freshman of note is 6-3 Abi Olajuwon, a Los Angeles native who is the daughter of former NBA superstar Hakeem Olajuwon.
In only 23 minutes in the McDonald's All-American Game, Thompson totaled 11 points, nine
rebounds, five blocks and four assists.
Imagine the possibilities -- Thompson's all-around game coupled with the power play of Paris, who as a consensus All-American freshman broke 55 school records, 16 Big 12 records and five NCAA records.
"By far, Amanda is the craftiest passer we've had since Stacey Dales was here," said Coale, who has become a national force in recruiting. "Amanda can look east and throw west, and she is an uncanny shot-blocker."
Before last season, OU sold a school-record 4,000 season tickets for women's basketball. As of this week, OU already has established a new mark. The 2006-07 season-ticket sales total has topped 5,000.
OU's attendance average last season was a school-record-smashing 7,630. The goal next season, Coale says, is to "sell every seat for every game. No empty seats, ever. It may sound crazy, but that's the goal."
In 1996, Coale's first OU summer camp attracted fewer than 30 kids. "I lost money. Serious money," she recalls. "My gym costs were way more than what we brought in."
Next week, 250 players are enrolled in the first of Coale's four summer camps. Ninety teams are registered for her team camp.
When new OU men's coach Jeff Capel was staggered by the loss of three blue-chip recruits, Coale gave him a pep talk.
"I told him not to worry about what people are saying or what might happen. I just told him to work. That's the best advice I can give him," Coale said. "He asked how many games we won our first year. I told him five. I thought he might pass out on the floor, but then I reminded him that in 2002, we were in the Final Four, playing for the (national championship).
"At the beginning, you just work. You just try to build that stability that makes you last."
Reflecting on the OU program's evolution, Coale said it is "remarkable" that media members would be calling during the offseason.
"The real story is that you're doing a story on women's basketball in June," she said. "How about that?"
Possible change: Oklahoma State's football jersey style may change, coach Mike Gundy acknowledged.
Since 2001, the Cowboys have worn jerseys with tough-to-read slanted numbers. Those jerseys could be replaced with a new model that has a much cleaner style, with basic block numbers and thin black stripes on the shoulders.
"We're trying to work out the licensing with Nike," Gundy said by telephone from Houston, where he and his assistants conducted a camp on Wednesday. "There's a lot involved in changing stuff like that. I'll know more in a couple of weeks. I'll meet with (athletic director Mike Holder) and look at our options."
After having no names on the jersey backs last season, OSU definitely will have the players' names on jerseys this year.
New Sooner: After OU football coach Bob Stoops dismissed Cody Freeby from the team in April, the Sooners were left without a proven punter.
That problem seems to have been solved as Kilgore (Texas) College punter Michael Cohen is headed to Norman. The Houston native averaged 43 yards per punt last season. He will be classified as a walk-on during the 2006 season and is expected to become a scholarship player next spring.
On the Kilgore College Web site, Rangers coach Jimmy Rieves is quoted as saying, "Michael Cohen is as good a punter as there is in the country -- that's from junior college all the way up. . . . He'll do a very good job for Oklahoma, and a lot of their Big 12 opponents will wonder why they passed on him."
Radio uncertainty: While the OSU football radio talent lineup is set (Dave Hunziker on play-by-play, John Holcomb providing analysis, Robert Allen working the sidelines), the university and Host Communications apparently haven't determined whether Tom Dirato will continue as the Cowboys' basketball analyst.
A veteran of 29 basketball seasons, Dirato is expected to retire soon from his university job. If he doesn't work basketball broadcasts in 2006-07, it is expected that Holcomb, Tulsa's Channel 6 sports director, will get the assignment.
OU is standing pat with its football lineup -- Bob Barry on play-by-play, Merv Johnson on color, Mark Rodgers on the sidelines.
Johnson, OU's director of football operations, is heading into his eighth season of radio work. He has developed into an extremely effective analyst..
By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
6/2/2006
For a brief period in 1990, the University of Oklahoma dissolved its women's basketball program. Ticket sales were barely above zero and the Sooners were not competitive.
Now, with coaching changes having occurred within the men's programs at OU and Oklahoma State, the Oklahoma women currently rate as this state's most formidable Division I program.
Count on it -- the Sherri Coale-coached Sooners will be on the short list of teams receiving 2006-07 preseason No. 1 votes. OU is positioned to join Connecticut, Tennessee and Duke at the most elite level of women's basketball.
Business was good last season. In Coale's 10th season, the Big 12 champion Sooners were 19-0 against league opponents, finishing with 31 victories overall and a No. 7 national ranking.
Business is even better now. In addition to returning the nation's most dynamic post player, sophomore center Courtney Paris, the Sooners welcome an incoming freshman guard, 6-foot Amanda Thompson of Chicago, who could push OU to the national championship. Another freshman of note is 6-3 Abi Olajuwon, a Los Angeles native who is the daughter of former NBA superstar Hakeem Olajuwon.
In only 23 minutes in the McDonald's All-American Game, Thompson totaled 11 points, nine
rebounds, five blocks and four assists.
Imagine the possibilities -- Thompson's all-around game coupled with the power play of Paris, who as a consensus All-American freshman broke 55 school records, 16 Big 12 records and five NCAA records.
"By far, Amanda is the craftiest passer we've had since Stacey Dales was here," said Coale, who has become a national force in recruiting. "Amanda can look east and throw west, and she is an uncanny shot-blocker."
Before last season, OU sold a school-record 4,000 season tickets for women's basketball. As of this week, OU already has established a new mark. The 2006-07 season-ticket sales total has topped 5,000.
OU's attendance average last season was a school-record-smashing 7,630. The goal next season, Coale says, is to "sell every seat for every game. No empty seats, ever. It may sound crazy, but that's the goal."
In 1996, Coale's first OU summer camp attracted fewer than 30 kids. "I lost money. Serious money," she recalls. "My gym costs were way more than what we brought in."
Next week, 250 players are enrolled in the first of Coale's four summer camps. Ninety teams are registered for her team camp.
When new OU men's coach Jeff Capel was staggered by the loss of three blue-chip recruits, Coale gave him a pep talk.
"I told him not to worry about what people are saying or what might happen. I just told him to work. That's the best advice I can give him," Coale said. "He asked how many games we won our first year. I told him five. I thought he might pass out on the floor, but then I reminded him that in 2002, we were in the Final Four, playing for the (national championship).
"At the beginning, you just work. You just try to build that stability that makes you last."
Reflecting on the OU program's evolution, Coale said it is "remarkable" that media members would be calling during the offseason.
"The real story is that you're doing a story on women's basketball in June," she said. "How about that?"
Possible change: Oklahoma State's football jersey style may change, coach Mike Gundy acknowledged.
Since 2001, the Cowboys have worn jerseys with tough-to-read slanted numbers. Those jerseys could be replaced with a new model that has a much cleaner style, with basic block numbers and thin black stripes on the shoulders.
"We're trying to work out the licensing with Nike," Gundy said by telephone from Houston, where he and his assistants conducted a camp on Wednesday. "There's a lot involved in changing stuff like that. I'll know more in a couple of weeks. I'll meet with (athletic director Mike Holder) and look at our options."
After having no names on the jersey backs last season, OSU definitely will have the players' names on jerseys this year.
New Sooner: After OU football coach Bob Stoops dismissed Cody Freeby from the team in April, the Sooners were left without a proven punter.
That problem seems to have been solved as Kilgore (Texas) College punter Michael Cohen is headed to Norman. The Houston native averaged 43 yards per punt last season. He will be classified as a walk-on during the 2006 season and is expected to become a scholarship player next spring.
On the Kilgore College Web site, Rangers coach Jimmy Rieves is quoted as saying, "Michael Cohen is as good a punter as there is in the country -- that's from junior college all the way up. . . . He'll do a very good job for Oklahoma, and a lot of their Big 12 opponents will wonder why they passed on him."
Radio uncertainty: While the OSU football radio talent lineup is set (Dave Hunziker on play-by-play, John Holcomb providing analysis, Robert Allen working the sidelines), the university and Host Communications apparently haven't determined whether Tom Dirato will continue as the Cowboys' basketball analyst.
A veteran of 29 basketball seasons, Dirato is expected to retire soon from his university job. If he doesn't work basketball broadcasts in 2006-07, it is expected that Holcomb, Tulsa's Channel 6 sports director, will get the assignment.
OU is standing pat with its football lineup -- Bob Barry on play-by-play, Merv Johnson on color, Mark Rodgers on the sidelines.
Johnson, OU's director of football operations, is heading into his eighth season of radio work. He has developed into an extremely effective analyst..