In her latest blog, Sherri Coale eloquently argues against the ban of male practice players.

Jesse is one of our "fellas." He's what much of the basketball world refers to as a scout teamer. He's what the NCAA calls a male practice player. By definition that means he has paid for his own physical, he has registered with and been cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse (paid for that personally as well), he consistently passes a minimum of 12 hours per semester making him eligible for intercollegiate competition (though he can't compete), and he has filled out enough certification paperwork to fill up a small upright filing cabinet. He practices with us between and around classes. Mostly he guards, but sometimes we make him get guarded, too. For all of that we are allowed to tell him "thank you." They are a special breed, our fellas.

Coale writes of the relationship "our fellas" have with her Sooners:

It's almost like they're teammates, Courtney and Jesse. And that's the best part of it all. It's genderless! In our little world of women's basketball we have finally figured it out. We are athletes. We are a team getting as good as we can get using every available whetstone we can find.

I swear, I would read Coale's blog if it were about paint drying...