Murrell resigns after five years

Sherri Murrell shocked the Cougars family Thursday afternoon by abruptly resigning as the Washington State head women’s basketball coach.

“It’s a hard day, I love those kids,” Murrell said after a hastily arranged press conference. “And the administration is the best in the country. I don’t know if I have another tear left in my tear ducts.”

It’s been a difficult five years for Murrell, who said she was not under any pressure to resign. She had a 27-114 record, including 8-82 in the Pacific-10 Conference. The Cougars were 5-27 this past season, 1-17 in conference. The Cougars had 10 wins, two in the Pac-10, in the three years prior to her arrival.

“I’m a winner, I love to win, and when you don’t it can take a toll,” Murrell said. “The hard thing is leaving these kids. They have a future. They’re going to win next year.

“There is no hidden agenda. For the first time in my life, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t imagine not walking into the gym tomorrow. I don’t know if a month off will recharge me.

“I put my heart and soul into this program. Unfortunately, the results didn’t match the efforts. If we would have won I would have been a lifer.”

Murrell, 39, was the head coach at Pacific, with a 68-46 record in four years, before replacing Jenny Przekwas at WSU. A former player at Pepperdine, she started her career as an assistant with the Waves, then went to Brigham Young and George Fox as an assistant. After a year at George Fox, she was promoted to head coach and had a 52-33 record in three years. She spent two years as an assistant at Portland State before going to Pacific.

Sophomore guard Katie Appleton represented the team at the press conference.

“I know that coach Murrell and the staff put in a lot of hard work and I know they gave it their best shot,” she said. “As a team, we wish coach Murrell the best of luck. We love her and we hope she does well in the future. We wish her success.”

Athletic director Jim Sterk said he and a council of administrators would begin the search for a new coach immediately.

“It was a very difficult decision for Sherri,” he said. “I respect her, I respect her coaches, and I wish her the very best. We were obviously very excited when Sherri came here and sad to see her resign. She put her heart and soul into her job, and she is very well respected as a professional and an individual in the department and in the community. She’s leaving the program in better shape than when she arrived.”

Murrell said she is in no rush to leave Pullman and has a house to sell.

“I’ve been a coach for 16 years. I was a head college coach at 25, and it’s weird not having your next day planned,” she said. “I have to get through the sadness.”

Murrell has three years remaining on her contract and would have been owed in excess of $550,000 for those seasons. Her original contract was to have expired on March 31 but Sterk gave Murrell a three-year extension in March 2005 after the Cougars finished ninth in the Pac-10.

Assistant coaches Mark Lewis, Lisa Fisher and Tara Sanchez are all under contract through June.

Sterk was asked if former Washington coach June Daugherty, who was fired last month despite taking the Huskies to the NCAA tournament for the sixth time in her 11 seasons, would be considered.

“Nothing would prevent her from being a candidate,” he said.

Other possibilities include Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves, who took the Bulldogs to their first NCAA tournament this season. He has compiled a 120-93 record in seven seasons at GU, 68-28 the last three, and took Saint Mary’s to the NCAA tournament prior to that.

“You always listen, don’t you?” Graves said from Portland. “I like where I’m coaching. We’ve got it going so good.”

Former UW assistant Sonny Smallwood, who was a candidate when Murrell was hired, could be considered. She is now an assistant at Nebraska.

Another name would be Gordy Presnell, the second-year head coach at Boise State, which made the NCAA tournament this year for the first time in more than a decade. He made Seattle Pacific a Division II national power when Sterk was at SPU.

The Huskies are expected to announce this week that Duke assistant Tia Jackson as Daugherty’s replacement, according to the Seattle Times.

Daugherty is said to be a candidate at Penn State.