Leadership unmatched with Coale

The Prep Rally: Best in the West series will highlight the all-time best players in western Arkansas as selected by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Morgan Hook Coale enjoyed a storied high school basketball career. It's something the Rogers High graduate will never forget even though it didn't come with a storybook ending.

The two-time Arkansas Girls Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year still talks about friendships and bonds she formed with coaches and teammates.

"The one thing you miss the most when you're done playing a sport is that camaraderie you had with teammates and coaches," said Coale, who is currently serving as an assistant girls basketball coach at Norman (Okla.) High. "The closest bonds I ever felt were with my teammates.

"There were eight of us seniors who kinda grew up together from our sophomore year on. We developed friendships that are still going pretty strong today."

The 28-year-old also still recalls vividly the final shot of her high school career, too. It just didn't go in.

"Oh I tell people about it all the time," said Coale, who went on to play at Oklahoma. "I see it clear as day."

The Lady Mounties trailed by a point and had to go the length of the floor with 3.8 seconds left.

"We knew they were going to press," Coale said. "Coach (Preston) Early drew up a great play to get me the ball back in bounds. I'm thinking do I have enough time to just go on for the layup or pull up."

She pulled up for a jump shot at the elbow of the lane from about 17 feet that rimmed out. The Lady Mounties' season ended for the second straight year with a one-point loss in the state semifinals and her high school career was over just like that.

But Rogers coach Preston Early wouldn't have wanted anyone else to take that shot.

"She had a level of greatness about her from the day she stepped on campus," Early said. "We knew she was going to be special."

She was indeed.

Coale had scholarship offers from the likes of Oklahoma and Arkansas before she'd even played a varsity game at Rogers. The 5-foot-9 point guard finished her high school career as the all-time leader in points (1,516) and assists (410) in school history. She averaged 17.4 points per game and 4.5 assists over her prep career. The three-time all-state selection is currently No. 2 on the scoring list. She was also named the state's Miss Basketball as a senior by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Her basketball skills were unquestioned but she also possessed so many key intangibles, too, that made Coale the best player he's ever coached, Early said.

"The number one thing is she had the ability to remain calm in the biggest situations," Early said. "Before she had even played her first game in high school, she had offers from the Sooners and the Hogs. There was a lot put on her but she always handled it so well.

"She also had that quality to raise the level of all the players around her. She just had that "it" factor."

Even though she was blessed with natural ability, her work ethic was also never in question.

"She was the most talented kid in the gym but nobody ever walked out thinking they worked harder than her," Early said. "It's just a unique quality that separates her."

Knowing her teammates and having their trust was the biggest key to helping them be the best they could, Coale said.

"You have to know what makes them tick," Coale said. "You can't approach everyone the same. But we bonded as friends and teammates and I knew what to say and how to say it.

"I just felt like they trusted me. Like a coach who gets players to play their best, I was able to do that as a player because of the relationships we had. They knew I was trying to make them better, not harping on them for not being as good as me."

She carried those qualities to Oklahoma, starting all 102 games of her final three seasons for the Sooners. Coale earned All-Big 12 second team honors as a senior and honorable mention as a junior. She still ranks fifth all-time in assists (507), fourth in 3-pointers made (189) and tied for fifth in games played (137).

Coale couldn't believe she was playing in front of 10,000 plus fans in college, especially as a freshman. But enjoyed every minute of it.

"Every time during the National Anthem, I'm thinking like 'This is a dream, playing at this university in front of these people," Coale said. "Every year after that it was exciting, playing in the NCAA Tournament. To play at that level was really cool and it was an honor to get to do it."