Women's Basketball | Duke aide at top of UW list?

The list of candidates for the vacant Washington women's basketball coaching position continued to narrow Tuesday to the point that by the end of the day, there were indications that the Huskies were zeroing in on Duke assistant Tia Jackson.

One source told The Times that Jackson is a definite leading candidate for the UW job and has been interviewed, while the Durham (N.C.) Herald Sun was reporting in today's editions, based on sources around the Blue Devils program, that Jackson "could be named the Huskies coach in upcoming days."

Jackson, a 1995 graduate of Iowa where she played for coach C. Vivian Stringer, has been an assistant at Duke for the past two seasons working for Gail Goestenkors. Goestenkors was named the coach at Texas earlier Tuesday.

Jackson, who turns 35 on April 21, spent five years as an assistant at UCLA and one at Stanford in becoming labeled as "one of the top recruiters in the nation," according to the Duke media guide. Jackson is not considered a top candidate to replace Goestenkors, according to Durham-area media reports.

UW athletic director Todd Turner, keeping to his pledge not to comment on specific candidates, would say only that "we're getting closer every day."

The Huskies are searching for a replacement for June Daugherty, fired on March 18 after 11 seasons at UW.

Others who have been confirmed as candidates include Florida State coach Sue Semrau, South Carolina assistant Michelle Marciniak and Indiana Fever assistant Julie Plank.

But one coach who had been considered a leading candidate, Georgia Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph, is no longer in the running as her agent, John Meadows, told The Times that Joseph withdrew her name from consideration over the weekend.

One source said that Turner has indicated that if he were to hire an assistant, it would be an assistant from a top-notch program.

Jackson would fit the bill as Duke went 32-2 this season, winning a school-record 30 straight games at one point, before losing in the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament.

Jackson played one year in the WNBA with Phoenix for coach Cheryl Miller before becoming a full-time coach.

While at UCLA, she served as the school's recruiting coordinator, bringing in a class that in 2003 was ranked among the top six in the country and in 2002 included five high-school All-Americans.

Jackson played at Mardela Springs (Md.) High School before heading to Iowa, where she helped lead the Hawkeyes to the 1993 Final Four.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com.