Better Sooner than later: Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale has a knack for building winners--fast. (Person to Person).

COACH: You've been described as a winner, master motivator, and role model. How does a coach work all of these things into his or her coaching?

COALE: They usually are a part of who you are. They permeate everything you do. I spend a lot of time with my players talking about stuff that isn't directly related to basketball. I try to get to know them as people, to help them broaden their horizons and get them interested in a lot of things, besides basketball. The development of such relationships and bonds of trust will enhance everything you do on the floor.

COACH: From whom did you derive your work ethic?

COALE: Genetically, probably my grandmother, who now lives with me and helps me take care of my kids. She was always active, blessed with a high degree of energy. There wasn't anything she couldn't do. I still believe she's amazing!

COACH: You have a knack for building winning programs in a hurry. What is the secret?

COALE: Surrounding myself with great people. Recruiting kids of impeccable character and hiring people who are loyal, who share my vision of the way the game has to be played, and who are willing to sacrifice and do whatever has to be done for the good of the program.

COACH: How would you describe your vision of winning?

COALES: When we started building this thing at Oklahoma, I knew how I wanted it to look and how I wanted people to feel when they watched us, and what I wanted them to say when they walked away from us. I think you need to have a real tangible concept of what it is you are trying to produce.

Championships are made up of a lot of things: the way you walk, the way you talk, the way you carry yourself, and the way you interact with people.

COACH: What is the next step m your quest for a national championship?

COALE: We're not going to forget what got us here. We don't have to reinvent the wheel. We just have to continue demanding the high level of competence that will enable us to recruit top quality players, the kind we couldn't call on before.

Fortunately, we're located in a region that's rich in girls basketball players.

COACH: Oklahoma has long been known as a football school. Has the perception changed since the success of both your men's s and women's basketball programs? When did you notice that basketball had arrived and been accepted?

COALE: We have a large statue on campus called the Seed Sower that represents the seeds of knowledge. When our football team won the national championship a couple of years ago, someone climbed up on the statue and deposited a basket of roses.

When we returned from the Final Four, we discovered a basketball in a satchel on top of the Seed Sower. I guess that was the tangible, signifying moment that we had arrived and that while we are going to be a football school forever, we can be a basketball school, too.

COACH: You were born and raised in Oklahoma, were an Academic All-American at Oklahoma Christian College, coached at Norman High, and are now the head coach at the state university. Could you imagine coaching anywhere else?

COALE: I could imagine it. But I'm not sure I could accept it. I just have such deep roots here that it makes it really, really special. I grew up in a house that sang "Boomer Sooner" on Saturdays before the football game. Not every game was on TV then, but every radio in the house was on the Sooners' station and we'd sing before the kickoff. Now I work here!

COACH: What was it like growing up in Healdton, OK, and how old were you when you started playing the game?

COALE: I started playing when I was in the fifth grade. I had seen a flyer about the All-Star Basketball Camp in Lindsey, OK, and I asked my mom if I could go and she said, "I guess, if you want to."

So I went and fell in love with the game. I was fortunate in having a brother who was three years older than I and had a good group of female athletes in his class. They were just terrific with me. They'd take me to the gym and I got to play all the time. Whether they were in eighth grade and I was in fifth or they were in high school and I was in junior high.

COACH: When did you first consider becoming a coach?

COALE: I was a point guard, which meant that I was probably a little bit bossy. I always knew that I wanted to coach. I'm one of those rare kids who went to college saying, "This is what I want to major in, this is what I want to be" and then went on to do just that.

I didn't change my mind, ever. I started as an assistant coach at Edmond Memorial High School, stayed two years, and then moved to Norman to become the head coach at the high school.

COACH: How did you wind up at OU?

COALES: It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. I don't believe I'd have gotten the job if I had been at some obscure place in Texas rather than Norman. People had watched our turnaround at Norman High. They were all familiar with me, and people at the university had watched what we had done. So while it was a stretch, it was not as much of a stretch as it would have been had people not been so familiar with me.

COACH: Who were your coaching mentors?

COALE: I had a lot. The way Pete Carril taught offense at Princeton was as good as it gets. I could watch his teams play forever.

Geno Auriemma has been another huge influence. He's one of my dearest friends. He has a vision for the game. He sees things that most people don't see as the game is going on. I learned a lot from him, both about the game and how to get the most out of our players.

Dan Hays at Oklahoma Christian College was my first and foremost basketball guru. To this day, if my zone is not working right I call Dan. He was the head men's coach and everyday after practice I would sit down and watch him coach the men. He taught me all of the basics about man-to-man defense, how to run a good fast break, and all of that good stuff.

Don Meyer who was at David Lipscomb forever and is now coaching in Aberdeen, SD, is another guru. Also, Rick Barnes at Texas. He's one of the best in the business. He's got the best defensive mind I've ever encountered.

COACH: We understand that you are a voracious watcher of game films, in addition to reading and studying the game. Do you ever feel that you are spending too much time on this phase of preparation? Or has this modus operandi become a way of life in coaching circles?

COALE: It helps me tremendously, and I don't think there's a better teaching tool for kids. They'll do something in practice and you'll tell them about it and try to correct it, but inside their brains they don't think they ever did it. When you show it to them on film and explain, it immediately becomes real.

Watching film is one of the best things that our staff does. I may be a voracious watcher of film, but my staff is even more so than I. That's one of the best things we do: detect our opponents' weaknesses and then coach our kids to exploit them.

We've been blessed with sharp kids who can concentrate, focus well, and carry out the game plan. That's made us successful in some situations that we might have otherwise missed.

COACH: Your 2001-2002 team made the WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll and 15 of your Lady Sooners have earned Academic All-Big 12 honors 28 times. Being a former Academic All-American yourself, we have to assume you stress academics to your players.

COALE: It's absolutely huge. Our kids become almost as competitive about their GPA as about their scoring. The point we're trying to teach is that there is a certain way to do everything and that everyone is here to get a college education.

COACH: What is the toughest job for a coach of a Division I women's program?

COALE: We need more hours in the day. I go home at 6 p.m., and then take my son to football practice at 6:15 and my daughter to soccer at 6:30. When we get back home, I have to call the recruits, see that my kids have their baths, and check their homework. I go to bed and, suddenly, I'm up and doing everything all over again. You yearn for a few more hours in the day.

COACH: What do you do to relax from basketball in the off-season?

COALE: Playing with my kids, playing with my family, and I love to read anything and everything. I have diverse interests. I've read, Never Wrestle with the Pigs, and Good to Great, which is a business book. I also read Russell's Rules, Bill Russell's book. This past summer I read a couple of novels, which I hadn't done in ages. That was really fun, to be able to escape for a while. Anna Quindlan is probably my all-time favorite author. She's just the best.

COACH: How do you feel about the WNBA? Do you believe that it is living up to expectations? Do you encourage your players to go in that direction?

COALE: I believe, it provides good opportunities for our players and that the positives far outweigh the negatives.

But I don't think the league is in the clear yet. It has been incredibly well-received in some places and is struggling a bit in others. Since it's a professional business, some of the rah-rah of college athletics is gone: That's the one thing that our players say is really different.

COACH: What particularly do you look for in your recruitment of players?

COALE: This might sound a bit trite--but we look for character--kids who have a respect for authority, who play hard and compete, who embody a value system in the way they communicate with others and the way they handle themselves.

Obviously, skill is very, very important, and so are athleticism and unselfishness. Kids who are willing to be a part of the whole because there is no room for egos in the way we play.

COACH: What can you do to improve as a coach?

COALE: Try to observe people who get it, who are doing it right. Get to know them--develop relationships with them, and pick their brains.

As a staff, you have to stand back at times and critique yourselves: "This really works. This is great," or "This wasn't quite so good."

I read a ton. Shoot, I taped "Hard Knocks" on HBO just to watch the Dallas Cowboys training camp. You can learn a lot from football coaches. Some of my best teachers have been football coaches in terms of organization and expectation and how to get a point across to a large number of people in a brief amount of time.

That's what you have to do, as well and as often as possible.