SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Washington Huskies fired women's
basketball coach June Daugherty on Sunday, a day after her team
lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
"We just need to have a positive buzz in our community about
our team. And it just wasn't there," athletic director Todd Turner
said, after he announced he would not renew the contracts of
Daugherty or any of her assistants, including her husband, Mike,
following her 11th season at UW.
Daugherty's teams made six NCAA tournaments, but the final one
ended Saturday when No. 11 seed Washington lost to sixth-seeded
Iowa State 79-60. The Huskies went 18-12 in the regular season
finished fourth in the Pac-10 at 11-7.
Daugherty was 191-139 (.579) at Washington, including 113-85 in
the Pac-10.
In a statement released by the university, Daugherty thanked the
team's supporters and players.
"It is disappointing that the University of Washington has
chosen not to renew our contract," she said. "We were looking
forward to coaching a talented group of returning players and the
top 10 recruiting class we signed to play."
Before coming to Washington, Daugherty coached seven seasons at
Boise State. She has a career record of 314-213 (.596) in 18
seasons.
Turner cited several factors in making the move.
Attendance at remodeled Hec Edmundson Pavilion decreased from
almost 5,000 per game to just above 2,500 in five seasons.
In 2003, Washington posted its first 20-win regular season under
Daugherty and led the Pac-10 in attendance with a school-record
4,981 fans per game. The Huskies tied for second in the league with
their best conference record during Daugherty's tenure, 13-5. That
team set a single-game attendance record when 8,408 fans saw
Washington crush UCLA.
Turner also didn't like seeing top recruits from what he called
a "fertile" home state leave. The latest was Regina Rogers, the
star center from Chief Sealth High School in Seattle has committed
to UCLA.
"Quite a few kids have left our state to play elsewhere ....
That is troubling," Turner said.
He also said the Huskies should be producing more for what
Washington is paying into the women's program. He noted "hundreds
of thousands of dollars" spent to improve practice gyms, meeting
rooms and training rooms for both the men's and women's teams and
an increase in coaches' salaries.