NewsOK Article Re: OU WBB

[Soonerbay]

Interesting article!
http://newsok.com/article/5589177/w...ds-from-2002-still-resonate-with-sherri-coale

A few points:
1. “You think this is how it's supposed to be all the time now,” Coale remembers Auriemma telling her fresh off of his third national championship and second undefeated season. “Like you're going to think this is what you should do every year, play in the national championship game.

“It's not how it works. If you can live through the years that it doesn't work, then you really know you're onto something.”

His words were probably meant to encourage a coach of a program that was dug up out of the mud and revived to achieve a trip to the NC game with the expectation that SC would continue to CONSISTENTLY grow the program; doing the things that are necessary to experience success consistently. That does not mean a trip to the Final Four every year, but neither does it mean the decline that OU has delivered. With strategic planning (staff development/improvement, recruiting, player development, etc.) there is no reason OU WBB should not have continued to finish 1 or 2 in the conference and compete for the tournament championship more often than not. And consistent NCAA Sweet 16 and above appearances.

2. While OU hasn't had UConn-like success, the program has still been to 19 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, good for the fifth-longest active streak in the nation. The Sooners also haven't finished lower than fifth in the conference since the 2005-06 season.

"Fifth in the conference" is not success. The program experienced consistent OVERALL (development, recruiting, etc) growth until about 2007. Yes, OU was still winning but not preparing to win for the long term. It finally caught up with them and became more evident each year; a slow decline is what happens. You start having more transfers because players came based on the history, but found out it's not working for them. History was not enough to sustain current. Again, the lack of effective recruiting. Great players need help regardless of how great they are! They also need to improve their skill set.

3. She certainly doesn't believe that she's lost “it.” “I wouldn't be doing this job if I didn't feel that,” Coale said. “I'd walk away in a heartbeat if I didn't feel that.”

IMHO...she's not facing reality AND/OR she's smart enough to keep her job as long as she can by trying to appear to keep hope alive. Only God knows what goes on behind the scenes in her meetings with the AD to be able to continue to run the program with the obvious decline. The measurable data doesn't lie: number of transfers (and how many have been talked in to staying?), lack of consistent strategic, successful recruiting, poor player and team skill development, lack of current trend marketing strategies (camp, social media), decline in national and conference ranking.

Basically, it's a wrap for experiencing the success of the past as long as they keep doing what they've been doing. Mulkey is right to a certain extent regarding coming back once you've lost it. HOWEVER, I do believe it's possible to "come back" but it would require a MAJOR overhaul that is strategic and it will take time.

 

[Hoopdreams79]

Who was “talked in to staying?”

 

[Soonerbay]

Who was “talked in to staying?”

To clarify, that is why I added the "?". There may have been others who considered and decided to stay. They have had transfers all across the board; after one year and at the end of their eligibility.

 

[j2d2]

Switzer was as good a recruiter as ever lived and he knew it's value. Coach Riley has revived an emphasis on recruiting and hired staff to recruit and develop the talent it produces. There is clearly a concentrated effort to improve recruiting and get more out of the players it produces.
Why not women's basketball?

 

[sooner8693]

Interesting article!
http://newsok.com/article/5589177/w...ds-from-2002-still-resonate-with-sherri-coale

A few points:
1. “You think this is how it's supposed to be all the time now,” Coale remembers Auriemma telling her fresh off of his third national championship and second undefeated season. “Like you're going to think this is what you should do every year, play in the national championship game.

“It's not how it works. If you can live through the years that it doesn't work, then you really know you're onto something.”

His words were probably meant to encourage a coach of a program that was dug up out of the mud and revived to achieve a trip to the NC game with the expectation that SC would continue to CONSISTENTLY grow the program; doing the things that are necessary to experience success consistently. That does not mean a trip to the Final Four every year, but neither does it mean the decline that OU has delivered. With strategic planning (staff development/improvement, recruiting, player development, etc.) there is no reason OU WBB should not have continued to finish 1 or 2 in the conference and compete for the tournament championship more often than not. And consistent NCAA Sweet 16 and above appearances.

2. While OU hasn't had UConn-like success, the program has still been to 19 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, good for the fifth-longest active streak in the nation. The Sooners also haven't finished lower than fifth in the conference since the 2005-06 season.

"Fifth in the conference" is not success. The program experienced consistent OVERALL (development, recruiting, etc) growth until about 2007. Yes, OU was still winning but not preparing to win for the long term. It finally caught up with them and became more evident each year; a slow decline is what happens. You start having more transfers because players came based on the history, but found out it's not working for them. History was not enough to sustain current. Again, the lack of effective recruiting. Great players need help regardless of how great they are! They also need to improve their skill set.

3. She certainly doesn't believe that she's lost “it.” “I wouldn't be doing this job if I didn't feel that,” Coale said. “I'd walk away in a heartbeat if I didn't feel that.”

IMHO...she's not facing reality AND/OR she's smart enough to keep her job as long as she can by trying to appear to keep hope alive. Only God knows what goes on behind the scenes in her meetings with the AD to be able to continue to run the program with the obvious decline. The measurable data doesn't lie: number of transfers (and how many have been talked in to staying?), lack of consistent strategic, successful recruiting, poor player and team skill development, lack of current trend marketing strategies (camp, social media), decline in national and conference ranking.

Basically, it's a wrap for experiencing the success of the past as long as they keep doing what they've been doing. Mulkey is right to a certain extent regarding coming back once you've lost it. HOWEVER, I do believe it's possible to "come back" but it would require a MAJOR overhaul that is strategic and it will take time.

I think you are right on both counts. She is not facing reality. I really believe that SC knows the ship is sinking and will not and cannot admit it publicly. She also is saying all the right things in most recent interviews to try to perpetuate the hope that there is hope for a return to 10yrs ago. I still believe all the signs are there of a coach that is on cruise control and comfortable to be collecting those big checks.

 

[Sweetest OU Girl]

Barry Switzer was a very special person - with charisma beyond explanation. And he was extremely compassionate - and able to connect with people of every type and station in life. It is unfair to compare others to him. We are not likely to see another like him.

There are signs that football is picking up, but it is still an open question. Scoring 50 points and still losing is a huge red flag. Especially when it involved a terrible coaching decision - the squib kick. Let's not count our chickens until a few have hatched.

Sherri has recruited very well over the years. And even over the last few years has brought in some special players. Like a few other teams we have had bad luck with injuries, and some players have not developed like one would hope. Of course we wonder about all that. It is a normal fan reaction.

But we appear to have picked up our recruiting success the past couple of years, and I'm hopeful the results will be better.

I suggest we keep it positive as we watch things develop.

 

[sybarite]

I love Barry Switzer. One of the reasons that I love Barry is that at a time when this area didn't do well with the black athlete, he had grown up among the black community. He related. This helped him become a great coach.

When Barry assumed the role as head coach of OU in 83, the SWC had only been permitting black athletes for about four years (1968, SMU). The highschool coaches of Texas who had had great black prospects had no ties to the SWC schools. The best athletes, people like Bubba Smith, ended up going to Michigan State from Houston. Rod Gerard lead Ohio State.

But, Barry could walk into Texas and Arkansas schools with no hatred or resentment of him or of OU. He was able to recruit so well in Texas that Royal appealed to the SWC coaches to recruit against OU first before recruiting against each other. When Royal did finally find the QB that he wanted to be the first great black QB, Barry stole him out from under Royal, leading to a few penalties that shouldn't have been. But, Barry had a year in which he recruited 12 of the top 20 in Texas. As one SWC coach said, he really got 12 of the top 15. Barry used his rapport with blacks and their mothers to lay a foundation that it would take years for other schools in the area to copy. If you have spent fifty years ignoring every black athlete in your state, you don't have very good recruiting lines when you go out there.

It worked for football. Guess what. If we had had a women's basketball team in 1965, we could have done the same thing. We could have recruited the best out of Texas and Louisiana, just like Barry had. But, we didn't. By the time we had a women's basketball team, other schools had caught up, and the stigma of rejection was gone.

Now, as Euphguy and I had suggested on another thread, there was a distinct possibility that OU does not exactly attract young black females.

Given that, we have had some good fortune. We did get Courtney who got us about four other McDonald's All-Americans. In the past three years, we have recruited pretty well. We lost Dungee and Mulkey. But, we have Ana and Shaina, who are better. If you aren't excited by Tatum and what we saw from Madison, you are just bummed out. There is talent on its way, and it is likely that we will have another good recruiting year this year. We do seem to be in on some people in a way that I haven't seen since we lost a couple of girls to Stanford and Tennessee about ten years ago.

If you aren't excited about what is on the horizon, you aren't paying attention.

 

[bob the nailer]

The ship is not sinking, it's not fair to look at next year's freshman class and say that. Can she follow it up with another good class and another? Remains to be seen.
I really like Ana but she has yet to prove she's better than Dungee

 

[Oliver Hardy]

I understand and agree with both views here.

I think the recruiting of Pellington and Anna, along with the next class might reverse the trend in lack-luster recruiting for several years in the future.

We did have several years of drop off in talent — I have my beliefs on why. They’ve been made clear here.

This is why, within 3 years, we will know for certain if the decade-old woes enveloping this program, have been player related or coaching related.

If Sherri corrals a third consecutive stellar class after Williams et. al, and we get the same kind of results we have the last few years, then there will be absolutely no doubt where the problem lies.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MsProudSooner]

The ship is not sinking, it's not fair to look at next year's freshman class and say that. Can she follow it up with another good class and another? Remains to be seen.
I really like Ana but she has yet to prove she's better than Dungee

I would rather have a player with a lower grade on skill and optimum attitude than a highly skilled player with a bad attitude.

 

[sybarite]

Conference statistics:

Dungee/Llanusa

FG% 34.7/37.4
3 PT% 27.5/30.9
Reb: 2.8/4.2
A: 19/16
TO: 28/39
ST: 13/21
PT: 7.1/12,6
Dungee was better in A/T ratio. Everything else favored Ana.
Ana made freshman of the year at least a couple of times in the conference, once nationally if I remember correctly. Dungee do that? Ana is also all about attitude.

 

[Leroy]

The other players like Ana unlike Dungee.

 

[atlantasooner]

This from syb
"There is talent on its way, and it is likely that we will have another good recruiting year this year. We do seem to be in on some people in a way that I haven't seen since we lost a couple of girls to Stanford and Tennessee about ten years ago."

Pam and Chad certainly seem to be pushing recruiting at levels not seen since the last final four runs.
But you have to connect classes in a row, and you have to fill gaps.
Right now, OU has as much young talent at the wing/guard spots as we have seen in
awhile. 2019 needs to add more athleticism and some length to the roster while increasing the talent
factor. 2020 same thing. Connect 4 classes and everything will come together on the court.
Once on the court results come thru, the recruiting efforts will have even more punch.
2019 is the lynchpin class though. One elite big is the key. Or one elite player regardless of
position. Liz Scott fits that description.

To me the program started going in the wrong direction with
Hartman/Cloman class. ???? What the hell was that? It was a drastic dropoff from previous efforts and signaled a problem in recruiting effort. Both in numbers and quality.
Hand's knee injury.
Griner's four year run gave Baylor a massive push just when OU was struggling.
Social media change in recruiting.
OU got a massive negative recruiting blitz as being anti African American. Pam's finally after 3 or 4 years put that to bed.

 

[soonerstar]

Coale did not build on the 2009 and 2010 final fours. She rested on her laurels and you can see the results. You can not ever let up on recruiting. When you do, other coaches are outworking you.

 

[sybarite]

Nobody rested on anyone's laurels. They missed on some people, and they had some bad luck. It didn't help that the two closest of friends were probably also dealing with Jan's cancer.

You lose two who should have been your stars: Whitney and Maddie, to two ACL injuries each. Two great freshmen who really never panned out due to injuries. It hurts to lose people like that if you aren't UConn and have replacements.

 

[sybarite]

To me the program started going in the wrong direction with
Hartman/Cloman class. ???? What the hell was that? It was a drastic dropoff from previous efforts and signaled a problem in recruiting effort. Both in numbers and quality.
Hand's knee injury.
Griner's four year run gave Baylor a massive push just when OU was struggling.
Social media change in recruiting.
OU got a massive negative recruiting blitz as being anti African American. Pam's finally after 3 or 4 years put that to bed.

Hartman came in with Hand in a two-person Texas class. Cloman came with McFarland in a two-person big class. Hartman actually started on a Final Four team, primarily for defensive purposes. Cloman didn''t work out, injuries. Was it an attempt to get into Texas?

We had some recruits that didn't pan out like maybe they should. Harden was an athlete. Kornet and Manning were one class. Kornet was an All-American who never showed it. Manning started three games as a freshman before an injury began her troubles.

 

[Sooner81]

Hartman came in with Hand in a two-person Texas class. Cloman came with McFarland in a two-person big class. Hartman actually started on a Final Four team, primarily for defensive purposes. Cloman didn''t work out, injuries. Was it an attempt to get into Texas?

We had some recruits that didn't pan out like maybe they should. Harden was an athlete. Kornet and Manning were one class. Kornet was an All-American who never showed it. Manning started three games as a freshman before an injury began her troubles.

So Syb, one simple question, no need to ramble on and on. Has Sherri done ANYTHING wrong in the 6 year downturn of this program or is it all because of ACL’s or bad luck or blah blah blah. Just wondering if you will pin ANYTHING at all on Sherri or is she 0% of the problem. Just an easy question waiting for an easy answer - if you can do that

 

[soonerstar]

Nobody rested on anyone's laurels. They missed on some people, and they had some bad luck. It didn't help that the two closest of friends were probably also dealing with Jan's cancer.

You lose two who should have been your stars: Whitney and Maddie, to two ACL injuries each. Two great freshmen who really never panned out due to injuries. It hurts to lose people like that if you aren't UConn and have replacements.

That is your opinion. I will stick to what I posted. Coale let up on recruiting. All teams have injuries, not just OU and UCONN. I think she has finally seen the errors of her ways. I hope so, anyway.

 

[sybarite]

So Syb, one simple question, no need to ramble on and on. Has Sherri done ANYTHING wrong in the 6 year downturn of this program or is it all because of ACL’s or bad luck or blah blah blah. Just wondering if you will pin ANYTHING at all on Sherri or is she 0% of the problem. Just an easy question waiting for an easy answer - if you can do that

Your "questions" have been asked and answered many times on this board. You choose to blame it all an Sherri, or at least the majority. Nobody will convince you of anything else. I am tired of trying.

 

[Sooner81]

Your "questions" have been asked and answered many times on this board. You choose to blame it all an Sherri, or at least the majority. Nobody will convince you of anything else. I am tired of trying.

Sure enough you couldn’t answer my ONE question. I will ask it again Syb and it is REAL easy. In fact I’ll give you an out you can answer just YES or NO. Is Sherri responsible for ANY of the problems with the OU women’s program????

Just suck it up and answer THAT ONE question - unless you can’t find it within yourself to do it. DON’T give me any more diatribe- if you WON’T answer then don’t post at all. YES OR NO.