Coale grew up in Healdton, Oklahoma and married Dane Scott Coale on June 20, 1987. The couple has two children, son Colton and daughter, Chandler. Coale has one brother, Jack. Their parents are Beverly Stash and Joe Buben. Sherri completed her undergraduate studies at Oklahoma Christian College in Oklahoma City, where she graduated summa cum laude in 1987. There she played on the school's Lady Eagles basketball team as a guard. Coale was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 2007.
Coaching career
Sherri Coale accepted her current position in 1996. She went directly from a high school squad to an NCAA Division I team. Inheriting a team in turmoil at Oklahoma, within four years, she had the Sooners back in the NCAA Tournament. She brought the Sooners into the national spotlight in 2002 when her team went all the way to the national championship game, losing to undefeated Connecticut. In 2005–2006 Coale's Sooners went 16–0 in Big 12 play and became the second Big 12 basketball team, men's or women's, to go undefeated in conference play. The University of Kansas men's basketball team went undefeated in Big 12 play in the 2001–2002 season. In 2008 the Sooners finished tied with two other teams for 3rd in the Big 12 Conference and were knocked out by Missouri in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.
USA Basketball
Coale was named as assistant coach of the USA team which would compete at the Junior World Championship in Brno, Czech Republic during July 2001. The team won their first five games, including a record setting win against Mali. The 97–27 final score represented the largest margin of victory by a USA team in Junior World Championship history. The preliminary round results qualified the team for the medal rounds, where they faced the host team, the Czech Republic. With a home crowd cheering them on, the Czech team held a nine-point lead with just over six minutes to go. The USA team cut the lead down to three points with seconds to go, and good defense gave the ball back to the USA. However, the USA was called for an offensive foul, and lost possession. The Czech Republic team won 92–88, and went on to beat Russia 82–80 to win the gold medal. The USA team beat Czech Republic 77–72 to win the bronze medal. Diana Taurasi was the leading scorer for the US with 19.3 points per game, while Alana Beard was close behind with 18.0 points per game. Nicole Powell was the leading rebounder for the US, with seven rebounds per game.
