TWO ASSISTANTS DEPART PROGRAM
Longtime assistants Pam DeCosta and Chad Thrailkill are leaving the program, head coach Sherri Coale announced Tuesday
NORMAN — After an 8-22 season that will leave the Sooners out of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament for the first time since 1999, Oklahoma's coaching staff underwent a shakeup on Tuesday. Longtime assistant coaches Pam DeCosta and Chad Thrailkill are leaving the program to "seek new opportunities away from basketball." "I have been honored to have them play a vital role in our program, and they have both been an integral part in our sustained success over the last 23 years," Sooners coach Sherri Coale said in a release. DeCosta served as an assistant for the Sooners from 1996-98 — Coale's first two seasons — before returning to Norman before the 2011-12 season. Among other jobs after she left OU the first time, DeCosta was an assistant coach at Kansas and the head coach at San Jose State. During her first stint with the Sooners, DeCosta recruited Stacey Dales, one of the foundational players to building Coale's early success. "I want to thank Sherri Coale for giving me the opportunity to coach at the University of Oklahoma on two different occasions,” DeCosta said in a release. “It has been an honor to see this program be built from the ground up and to have been a part of such a long period of sustained success. I'm grateful for having the chance to work with many great players during my time along with our staff and administration at OU. I look forward to seeking new opportunities outside the game of basketball.” Thrailkill joined the staff during the 2002-03 season as director of operations before being elevated to assistant coach before the 2004-05 season. He was an assistant to Coale at Norman High for a time and also served as the head boys basketball coach at Norman North and head girls coach at Westmoore. A search will begin immediately to fill the positions. Last offseason, longtime assistant coach Jan Ross moved off the court to be the program's chief of staff while Coale's son, Colton Coale, became a full-time assistant coach. Tuesday's announcement came a day after sophomore guard Shaina Pellington, last year's Big 12 Freshman of the Year, announced that she planned to transfer.