Daugherty expected to recover

A day after suffering cardiac arrest, June Daugherty was reported to be progressing well in an Everett hospital Wednesday night, and expected to eventually return to her new job as women's basketball coach at Washington State.

"Everybody is real optimistic," said Daugherty's agent, John Meadows.

Daugherty, the women's basketball coach at Washington the last 11 seasons before being fired in March, was headed for a physical at the Everett Clinic on Tuesday afternoon when she collapsed in the parking lot.

"It's definitely very fortunate [Daugherty was near medical personnel]," said Loree Payne, a former player of Daugherty's at UW who briefly visited her Wednesday. "Somebody was looking out for her, and that's amazing."

Meadows said that when Daugherty collapsed, she was with her 13-year-old daughter, Breanne, who apparently ran to get help.

Daugherty was given CPR and transferred to Providence Everett Medical Center where she was initially listed in critical condition. But by Wednesday morning, Daugherty's condition was upgraded to serious and she was taken off a respirator.

"She is alert and talking, and her prognosis is favorable," said Cheri Russum, a spokeswoman at Providence.

Rod Commons, WSU sports information director, said Daugherty "has no long-term issues. She did not have heart damage that we can tell. There are no blockage issues and recovery should be complete. She should be back on the job but we don't have a time frame at this point."

The American Heart Association defines cardiac arrest as the abrupt loss of heart function. A heart attack is defined as damage to the heart resulting from a reduction or stoppage in blood supply.

Said WSU athletic director Jim Sterk, "We are relieved June is feeling better and her status has been upgraded."

Meadows said Daugherty's cardiac arrest was preceded by "racing heart." He said tests were still being conducted Wednesday and that it was possible Daugherty would have a defibrillator implanted.

Daugherty was not allowed to see visitors Wednesday, but Payne and another former UW player, Kayla Burt, were able to visit her for a few minutes.

Burt suffered a cardiac arrest on New Year's Eve in 2002, and Daugherty's colleagues and former UW players couldn't help but note the similarities between the incidents.

"It's eerily close to what Kayla had," said Marie Tuite, a senior associate athletic director at Washington.

"It was really unnerving for so many of us, but we're just glad to hear that it sounds like everything is going to be OK."

Burt had a defibrillator implanted and returned to the court in 2004 following a 1 ½-year absence from the game. But she was forced to retire for good in January 2006 after the device activated during a game against UCLA.

"It just seems very surreal to us that this is actually happening again since we just went through this four years ago," said Payne, who was a teammate of Burt's. "But they [June and husband Mike Daugherty] were here for us when we went through all of that, so obviously we are going to be here for all of them."

Payne and Burt spoke with Daugherty briefly.

"It was very encouraging," Payne said.

A statement from UW athletic director Todd Turner said: "June and her family have made a lot of great friends throughout the Washington Husky community over the years, and our sincere thoughts and concerns go out to her."

Daugherty, who turns 51 in August, was the women's coach at Washington from 1996 until March, compiling a record of 191-136 before being fired.

She was hired at Washington State on April 20 to replace Sherri Murrell.

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