By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Legendary Oklahoma women’s basketball coach Sherri Coales says the growth of women’s college basketball is something she believes can be sustained, despite the loss of players like Iowa’s Caitlin Clark
Coales spoke at an event hosted by the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce.
Coales says while people watched the product, it wasn’t just Clark that they were seeing.
“People were tuning in to see Caitlin (Clark) shoot from the logo, or they were tuning in Angel Reese get a rebound, or they tuned in to see JuJu (Watkins) break somebody’s ankles, they were watching for all that but while they were watching for that they saw all these other players who will continue to fuel the collegiate game,” Coales tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.
Coales coached the Sooners for 25 years, winning six Big 12 Championships and reaching the Final Four three times.
Coale’s says there has been a natural explosion of young girls becoming interested in basketball.
“That circle just grows like a ripple, just wider and wider and wider, so there will be an influx of little girls who are putting their hair up in a ponytail and heading to basketball camp this summer, that will continue,” Coales says.
Coales says playing sports can be difficult, but difficult things in life breed confidence, and confidence is the root of success.
“Boys, girls, whatever work you’re doing, sports business, parenting, whatever it is confidence is at the root of success of all that,” Coales explains. “And sports gives you a trial run and gives you a chance to fail and succeed and figure out how to handle both of them, it’s not always fair but neither is life, so you get that experience and you just take what you’ve been exposed to and it makes you a better human.”
Coales retired from coaching in 2021. In her post coaching career, she’s a speaker as well as an author.
Coales signed copies of her book ‘Rooted to Rise’ following the St. Joseph event, a book where she tells stories about all the people who impacted her life.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.
