A look at Sherri’s OU history

[Oliver Hardy]

http://www.soonerstats.com/basketball/women/coaches/details.cfm?OUCoachID=8

This is very revealing and interesting when considering, I think, the program’s current status.

We all know Sherri resurrected a program from the dead.

For many, many years she has kept the OU program one of the best in the country. She’s also had some really tough years.

This season is one of her worst.


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[SoonerSpock]

OU has an average of 7.2 conference losses the last 10 years and 7.6 the last 5. Baylor 1.4 the last 10 years and 0.8 the last 5 years. The previous 9 seasons OU averaged 3.4 conference losses and Baylor 4.9.

OU's conference losses have increased 212% and Baylor's conference losses decreased 53% from the 2001-2009 averages. The last 5 seasons OU has averaged 6.8 more conference losses than the bears. The entire period 2001-2019 both Sherri and Kim were the coaches.

 

[soonerstar]

24-36 the last 2 years. 15-21 in conference the past 2 years. Time for a change.

 

[SoonerSpock]

http://www.soonerstats.com/basketball/women/coaches/details.cfm?OUCoachID=8

This is very revealing and interesting when considering, I think, the program’s current status.

We all know Sherri resurrected a program from the dead.

For many, many years she has kept the OU program one of the best in the country. She’s also had some really tough years.

This season is one of her worst.


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From my perspective Burl Plunkett resurrected the program after Donnie Duncan shut it down. Plunkett took over the program in the fourth year after Duncan announced the program was being discontinued and then hired Gary Hudson for 3 years following the shutdown.

In Plunkett's first season OU won the WNIT. In his second season the Sooners went to the 2nd round of the NCAA and had an 11-3 conference record. He retired after 3 years with a 52-36 record.

Sherri then took the program to the next level but it took her 4 years to make the NCAA tournament after going 28-55 her first 3 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_Sooners_women's_basketball

 

[Oliver Hardy]

I saw that, but, in my thinking it was still in bad shape when Sherri came in. He only had one really great season and was mediocre the other years.

The evidence of that is the first 3 years of Sherri’s tenure.




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[SoonerSpock]

I saw that, but, in my thinking it was still in bad shape when Sherri came in. He only had one really great season and was mediocre the other years.

The evidence of that is the first 3 years of Sherri’s tenure.




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The way I see that is Burl Plunkett over from a program that had gone 39-45 in the preceding 3 year and had a 3 year record of 52-36. Sherri followed and went 28-55 her first 3 years. We can all have opinions but the number are facts describing what actually happened. Opinions are like assumptions and we know what happens when we assume.

I submit that Burl turned the program around and took it to the post season twice. A definite turn around from a program that had 2 winning season in the preceding 6. To me that is a ressurection.

Sherri then elevated the program at least another level or 2 and maintained that success for over a decade (2000-2011). She then maintained a quality program from 2012-2018 that most schools would be proud of had she not established the higher national standard for 12 years. Generally you have reap what you sow and Sherri has grown a few crops that leaves her WBB fans famished in recent years. And now it is costing the university about another $1 million in lost revenue annually, a program that was already losing about $4 million. It is what it is.

 

[sybarite]

I saw that, but, in my thinking it was still in bad shape when Sherri came in. He only had one really great season and was mediocre the other years.

The evidence of that is the first 3 years of Sherri’s tenure.




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+1

 

[SoonerSpock]

Burl did nothing great like Sherri but in the 19 seasons preceding Burl the Sooners were 233-227 with only 1 trip to the NCAA's in its history. In 3 seasons after the program shutdown Burl went 52-36 with 1 NCAA's and won the WNIT national tournament. My only pont is Sherri was defintely not taking over a dead program that had been shutdown.

She took over an average program from a coach that won more games and had a better winning percentage than 5 of the 6 coaches that preceded him. He brought the program back from the dead but Sherri made it great. Give credit were credit is due.

 

[Oliver Hardy]

I think you make valid points, Spock. I think we really don’t disagree, it’s just a semantics argument over my choice of words.

I wasn’t following the program back then. No one really was. Heck, no one was following WBB period.

I was surprised at his record. Did he retire because of health or was he fired? Do you remember?


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[SoonerSpock]

I think you make valid points, Spock. I think we really don’t disagree, it’s just a semantics argument over my choice of words.

I wasn’t following the program back then. No one really was. Heck, no one was following WBB period.

I was surprised at his record. Did he retire because of health or was he fired? Do you remember?


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He retired when he was 63 for reported health reasons. His only college experience was his 3 years as an assistant for his predecessor Gary Hudson and as OU HC. Burl had been a long time high school head WBB coach starting in 1962 and came out of retirement to assist Hudson. He won state championships in both Oklahoma (2 at Byng) and Texas (1 at a Corpus Christi high school). He also was the Oklahoma high school coach of the year in both boys and girls basketball.

As a 63 year old former 30+ years high school coach he was a coach not a recruiter and college really was not his game. Probably the only reason he got the head job was because the players did request him but he could never have been a long term solution primarily because of his age.

https://www.myplainview.com/news/article/Plunkett-recalled-for-bringing-stability-to-8475946.php

 

[Oliver Hardy]

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[gwydion]

Plunkett was a a well liked and respected high school coach. He was successful at bringing in some of the best girls in the state during his tenure. But Oklahoma was still playing six on six high school basketball during Plunkett's years at OU and I can't help but think that had to make coaching just a bit harder.

 

[Oliver Hardy]

Really good point. I had forgotten that, which only goes to show both how old I am and how much I’ve forgotten.


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[sybarite]

A little context.

----Sherri became the head coach at OU in the first year of the existence of the Big Twelve. So, what does that matter?

----In the history of the Big Eight, not one Big Eight team ever made it to the Final Four. It just wasn't that big of a women's basketball conference.

----Big Eight last ten years:

------Colorado 250-80
------Iowa State 122-169
------Kansas 205-101
------Kansas State 140-144
------Missouri 172-141
------Nebraska 172-119
------Oklahoma 141--142
------Oklahoma State 191-109

----Not one of these teams had ever made it to the Final Four. Indeed, only one of them has ever made it to the Final Four---all three by OU.

----Iowa State had made it to the Elite Eight one year.

----Basketball was still in an era in which the powers included Old Dominion and Louisiana Tech. The explosion in the power five conferences had not yet happened.

----Texas and Texas Tech joined the same year that Sherri started, 1996-97. They had both won a national title.

----So, we were moving into a stronger conference with a new coach.


1996-97 retainees:

Yolanda Anderson 6-2 Sr
Jennifer Hajak 5-7 Jr
Kelli Inman 6-0 Soph
Roxanne Long 5-8 Jr
Jamie Phillips 6-2 Jr
Tina Taylor 6-0 Sr
Kelley Workman 5-11 Soph
Michele Workman 5-11 Soph

New Recruits:
Jenny Bramer 5-8 Sr
Shonika Breedlove 5-7 Jr
Shontell Brown 5-6 Fr
Suzanne Kern 6-2 Fr
Phylesha Whaley 5-10 Fr

Retainees from Plunkett: 97-98
Roxanne Long 5-8 Sr 10.81 ppg
Kelley Workman 5-11 Jr 3.22 ppg
Michele Workman 5-11 Jr 10.41 ppg

New recruits, 1997-98
Jamie Anderson 6-3 Jr
Stacey Dales 6-9 Fr
Sunny Hardeman 5-7 Fr
Zuzana Krumlova 6-4 Fr
Miranda Stacy 5-8 Jr
Desiree Taylor 6-1 Fr

Retainees from Plunkett, 98-99
Kelley Workman 5-11 Sr 3.09 ppg
Michele Workman 5-11 Sr 4.34 ppg

New Recruits: 98-99
LaNeisha Caulfield 5-9 Fr
Jennifer Cunningham 6-3 Fr
Shannon Selmon 6-1 Fr
Nola Wainohu 5-10 Jr

----The cupboard was left pretty barren by Plunkett. They fell off his last year. Michele Workman, for example, was a starter until the new recruits hit the floor. As a senior, she was a 4.34 ppg role player. Whaley (Jr), Caulfield (Fr), Dales (Fr), and Taylor (Soph) were the dominant starters now. Shannon Selmon (Fr) was making inroads.

This group, with the addition of Ross, would become the 2002 team that was the first Big Eight team to reach the Final Four Jackson came aboard in 2002.

---New conference
---New era
---Reached goals that no other Big Eight team ever reached.

 

[Soonerbay]

All of the stats and history makes for interesting reading, however, OU WBB is a business; not a hobby, club or intramural team. When one compares apples to apples, it is clear OU has been on a consistent decline in the Big XII. No need in comparing outside the conference if you're not successful within the conference. I ASSUME OU WBB is ran like a business with a strategic plan based on goals, action items and a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). Like any other business, the leadership must plan effectively, make adjustments and commit to accountability, integrity and success in the best interest of the program and university; not individuals. Forget all the personal opinions and observations for a moment, even though some things are quite obviously wrong. In business, one usually does not wait until the business goes completely broke and run into the ground before it makes adjustments to recover. One could say, "Well, Jody Conradt didn't retire until she missed two years making the tournament." And that seems fair and admirable of JC to step down because the success of the program and WBB everywhere is bigger than any one person or coaching staff. It ain't personal...it's a business and should be run as such. And if not, why?

 

[sooner8693]

All of the stats and history makes for interesting reading, however, OU WBB is a business; not a hobby, club or intramural team. When one compares apples to apples, it is clear OU has been on a consistent decline in the Big XII. No need in comparing outside the conference if you're not successful within the conference. I ASSUME OU WBB is ran like a business with a strategic plan based on goals, action items and a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). Like any other business, the leadership must plan effectively, make adjustments and commit to accountability, integrity and success in the best interest of the program and university; not individuals. Forget all the personal opinions and observations for a moment, even though some things are quite obviously wrong. In business, one usually does not wait until the business goes completely broke and run into the ground before it makes adjustments to recover. One could say, "Well, Jody Conradt didn't retire until she missed two years making the tournament." And that seems fair and admirable of JC to step down because the success of the program and WBB everywhere is bigger than any one person or coaching staff. It ain't personal...it's a business and should be run as such. And if not, why?

+1

 

[inoref]

Maybe Sherri is worth more to OU as a fund raiser than a coach? I have no problem with that, but why not hire another coach for about half SC salary? Then Sherri & Colton can spend 100% of their time to raise that money...You know they can rub shoulders with the
High hats and arrow collars,
White spats and lots of dollars,
Spending every dime
For a wonderful time.

 

[Soonerbay]

Maybe Sherri is worth more to OU as a fund raiser than a coach? I have no problem with that, but why not hire another coach for about half SC salary? Then Sherri & Colton can spend 100% of their time to raise that money...You know they can rub shoulders with the
High hats and arrow collars,
White spats and lots of dollars,
Spending every dime
For a wonderful time.

I previously thought the same thing, but in reality, she was able to do the fundraising when she landed the Paris twins, AThompson, and AOlajuwon. How hard was that with a persuasively written fund development plan and just the right presentation with crumpets and tea? IJS! I wonder how many of them want a refund? If I plunk down $2,500 (let alone $250K) as an investment for WBB endowments, I wouldn't expect one to take my monies then sit on her laurels. It seems like that could have happened, however, all of it is just hard to try to figure out because it makes absolutely no sense.