Oklahoma women's basketball: Sooners take time to visit Pearl Harbor on Hawaii trip

The Sooners are in Hawaii for the Rainbow Wahine Showdown, but Sherri Coale wants her players to mature in other ways besides basketball during their college years.
By Jason Kersey Published: November 22, 2012

Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale wants her players to grow and develop as athletes during their college years, but also to mature in other ways.

“One of Coach Coale's mission is to make us more well-rounded individuals, women and citizens of society,” said senior guard Whitney Hand.

That's why between basketball tasks in Honolulu — where OU opens the Rainbow Wahine Showdown at 6 p.m. Friday against Arkansas — Coale took her team to Pearl Harbor, the site of the Dec. 7, 1941, surprise military strike that killed over 2,400 Americans and led directly to the United States' entry into World War II.

“What an incredible opportunity to understand history in a very real way, and appreciate the luxuries we enjoy and the price that was paid so we can enjoy them,” Coale said.

Coale's teams have played in Honolulu before, and she always makes sure to take time to visit nearby Pearl Harbor. The last time an OU women's basketball team visited was 2006.

“Pearl Harbor's one of those things ... you've seen the movie; you've heard the story,” Hand said. “But until you really experience it, you can't understand the gravity of it.

“We're standing on top of the (USS Arizona), and hundreds and hundreds of men are still buried underneath it. It's kind of staggering.”

The trip to Hawaii is first and foremost, though, about basketball.

Coale said she likes her players being in unfamiliar environments because it makes players grow up.

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by Jason Kersey
OU Sports Reporter
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When: 6 p.m. Friday

Where: Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu

TV: None

Radio: KEBC-AM 1560, KREF-AM 1400

Live webcast: SoonerSports.tv

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