Basketball

Fall 2007

Home-court advantage: Shelley Patterson

When Shelley Patterson graduated from Washington State University in 1984, she thought her basketball career was over. A guard for the Cougar women’s basketball team, she was among the state’s all-time leaders in assists and steals. But in 1984 there wasn’t much work for a woman in basketball. So she started a career in computers. That didn’t last long. In her free time she volunteered with a team at a local community college. That, and her persistence in applying for open positions with college teams, led to her first professional job in NCAA basketball in the mid-1980s. Since then, her coaching career has taken her … » More …

Spring 2009

Coaching with Heart

In May of 2007, former college basketball player Kayla Burt received word that her friend and college coach June Daugherty was in the hospital in critical condition.

Upon hearing the news, she thought of nothing but getting from her home in Oregon to Everett, Washington, to see Daugherty.

“I packed my bag in five minutes,” recalls Burt, who played for Daugherty from 2001 to 2006 on the University of Washington’s women’s team. “I thought June had had a heart attack. I didn’t know if she had passed away because I didn’t have a lot of information. Immediately my adrenaline started going and I just left.”

… » More …

Summer 2005

Home Stand: Growing Up in Sports

Poetry in motion he wasn’t. At least not on the basketball court, even though 6’ 9” Jim McKean, his fadeaway jump shot, and his rebounding (he still holds the single-game Far West Classic rebounding record of 27, set against Princeton in 1967) were anchors of the rebirth of Washington State University men’s hoops in the mid-’60s.

“He didn’t have real good feet and was not a great athlete,” Marv Harshman, WSU’s head coach at the time, said a couple of weeks before the start of this year’s NCAA tournament. But that wasn’t the whole story.

“He had great hands, and he played with his head,” … » More …

Fall 2002

Murrell to chart new basketball course

Sherri Murrell may need a pair of steel-toed shoes.

“I’m going to be kicking down doors of all the coaches in the Northwest,” said Washington State’s new women’s basketball coach.

Even before she was introduced at WSU in late March, she had been on the phone trying to improve WSU’s recruiting success in the region. Last season, only one Cougar player was from Washington.

Murrell’s first order of business after being hired was to contact each returning Cougar player and “embrace them.” She also wanted them to know she wasn’t coming to WSU to “clean house.” With four scholarships to fill and less than two … » More …

Summer 2002

Ehlo inducted into Pac-10 Hall of Honor

Former Washington State University basketball coach George Raveling once described Craig Ehlo (’86 Soc. Sci.) as “playing on the ragged edge of being out of control.” In other words, Ehlo made things happen. His full-speed-ahead approach on the court produced some turnovers, but also a host of steals resulting in easy baskets for the Washington State basketball team.

The former Cougar star was one of 10 inaugural basketball inductees into the Pacific-10 Conference Hall of Honor. The ceremony was held during the Pac-10 Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Staples Arena in Los Angeles in March.

Other inductees included coaching greats John Wooden (UCLA) and Pete … » More …

Spring 2002

Play-by-play announcer calls 500th football game

Alumnus Bob Curtis (’47 Speech Comm.) broadcast his 500th consecutive University of Idaho football game as “Voice of the Vandals” last October, when the UI entertained Louisiana-Lafayette in Martin Stadium. He also has been play-by-play announcer for Idaho basketball for more than 30 years.

Curtis got his start in sports broadcasting in his senior year at Washington State University, when he was employed to announce games in the Spokane region. Initially, he called a number of WSU and UI games before joining Idaho permanently.

His string of Vandal football broadcasts dates back to the fall of 1958. He has been named “Idaho Sportscaster of the … » More …