Inside The Huskies

Former Husky Basketball Coach June Daugherty Dies at 64

Heart issues disrupted her health throughout her career at UW and WSU.

Dan Raley

Former Husky Basketball Coach June Daugherty Dies at 64
Former Husky Basketball Coach June Daugherty Dies at 64 /

June Daugherty, former University of Washington women's basketball coach, died on Monday in Boise, Idaho, reportedly from heart issues that continually put her health in question for much of her professional career. She was 64.

In 2007, Daugherty was fired after 11 seasons with the Huskies, even after a winning season that brought an NCAA tournament berth, and was immediately hired by Washington State.

Two months following her UW dismissal, Daugherty suffered a heart attack while she sat in her vehicle outside a medical clinic north of Seattle, where she was being treated for cardiomyopathy. She had left and returned to the facility after an in-office procedure.

The then-50-year-old Daugherty recovered and was able to coach the Cougars for 11 seasons before taking a medical leave of absence and not returning following the 2017-18 season.

Daugherty, a former Ohio State basketball standout, coached alongside her husband, Mike, throughout her career, which began for her as a head coach at Boise State.

At the UW, she had the challenging task of replacing the highly successful Chris Gobrecht, was well liked and seemed to do well.

In Daugherty's 11 seasons in Seattle, she compiled a 191-139 record and guided the Huskies to six NCAA appearances. In 2001, she coached the UW to NCAA victories over Old Dominion, Florida and Oklahoma before losing to Southwest Missouri State in the West Regional final.

Yet shortly after the UW was eliminated in the 2007 NCAA tourney, UW athletic director Todd Turner fired Daugherty, doing so he said because attendance had fallen off, local recruits had gone elsewhere, postseason success had been minimal and "the program lacked a buzz."

Turner, who didn't last in his job, also fired two Husky football coaches, a crew coach, gymnastics coach and a swimming coach. 

Daugherty, survived by her husband and two children, compiled a 443-431 overall coaching record in 27 seasons at the UW, WSU and Boise State.

Washington recently hired Tina Langley from Rice as the women's coach, its fourth since Daugherty was let go 14 years ago.

Jen Cohen, UW athletic director, released the following statement regarding the coach's passing:

"The Husky community is heartbroken to hear about the passing of June Daugherty. Not only did Coach Daugherty make a lasting impact at the University of Washington over her 11 years on campus, but her commitment and influence on women's basketball in the state of Washington and Pacific Northwest has been felt for over two decades. On the court, she led Washington to six NCAA appearances, but it was her ability to promote a family atmosphere and positively mold the lives of the many women who played under June that will be remembered and missed the most."

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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