Turner not OK with anything less than great

Todd Turner believes Washington women's basketball can be the UConn of the Left Coast. He believes it should challenge Stanford and Arizona State every season for the Pac-10 championship.

He believes the women's game can be more than it has been over the last 11 years. Believes it can create the same kind of noise it did more than a decade ago when Chris Gobrecht raged on the sideline and woke up a big city and a college campus to the wonders of her burgeoning game.

For Washington athletic director Turner, just making the NCAA tournament never was enough. The women's field isn't nearly as deep as the men's, and he believes the quality programs should consistently make runs deep into March.

In six NCAA appearances, Washington women's basketball coach June Daugherty's teams only advanced past the first round twice. Her tournament record was 4-6.

Turner believes the program can be much more than it has been and that belief led him to Sunday's unsurprising decision not to renew the contract of Daugherty, the Huskies' 11-year coach.

"I envision the same things for the women's program that I do for the men's," Turner said during Sunday's teleconference. "I believe we have all the pieces in place to be a program that can be every bit as good as Stanford and Arizona State and can challenge Connecticut and Tennessee.

"This is a fertile recruiting area. This is a state university that plays in the top conference on the West Coast."

It is Turner's belief that if men's coach Lorenzo Romar can make it to back-to-back Sweet 16s, so can Daugherty. If the Washington men can earn a No. 1 seed, as it did in 2005, so can the women.

The campus is big enough for both games to thrive.

Daugherty was the women's basketball coach for 11 unsullied years at Washington, but never created the chatter, never evoked the excitement, never was able to emulate the success of her predecessor, Chris Gobrecht.

Turner is right to demand more. And he has a right to be disappointed with limp efforts like Saturday's 79-60 loss to Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

He wants the next Pat Summitt, or the next Tara VanDerveer to be the coach at Washington.

This will be a hire worth watching, the kind of hire that will tell us more about the direction Turner is seeking for his department. He will be looking for someone — almost certainly a woman — who will light a fire under the program.

This is a destination job. There won't be a shortage of applicants.

Daugherty left in the same quiet, dignified manner she came into the program. She called every player and said her contract wouldn't be renewed.

"It came as a shock," fifth-year senior Erica Schelly said by telephone Sunday. "There had been rumors of this kind of thing all year, but still to hear it from her was shocking. I know it had to be a hard call for her to make and I really respect her for it."

Schelly admitted she often felt the speed of Daugherty's quick hook. Some former players privately have criticized Daugherty, saying she wasn't patient with them. That she pulled them too fast and that they too often felt like they were looking over their shoulders, knowing how quickly they could fall out of her favor.

"Every single player at every program has times when they get emotional with their coach," Schelly said. "There are times when you lose respect. Times when you get angry. Times when you lash out.

"I've been through every emotion with June, but getting that phone call today was really, really painful. I love June. It breaks my heart that this is happening. I can't imagine what a painful thing that phone call was for her."

But Turner is right to want more. He wants a spike in the attendance that has dipped by almost 50 percent over the last decade. He wants more consistency in recruiting (although Daugherty's incoming class is rated by many among the nation's top 10).

And he believes the university has spent the money and created the kind of environment — facilities, staff, promotions — that encourages success. In his mind the university isn't getting enough back on its investment.

"It's a phenomenal environment for basketball success," Turner said.

June Daugherty had 11 years of not-quite-good-enough.

Todd Turner is looking for something and someone great.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com