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--> --> Feb. 6: Huyett sent packing by ISU By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings One of the best coaches in Southern Oregon University history may be headed back this way soon, but not by choice. Shirley Huyett, who guided the SOU women's basketball team to the playoffs in each of her 11 seasons at the helm - including three berths in the NAIA Division II tournament - was placed on leave Monday for the remainder of the season as Idaho State University women's basketball coach. The move comes 221 days after Huyett was hired. Lynn Kennedy, the top assistant for the women's team, has been named the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. "This is a personnel issue and as such we really cannot discuss the details, but we need to go in a new direction," ISU Athletics Director Howard Gauthier announced Tuesday in a prepared statement. "We appreciate coach Huyett's efforts on behalf of Idaho State University." ISU was 8-12 overall at the time of the decision, 1-6 and in seventh place in the NCAA Division I Big Sky conference. The Bengals were also in the midst of a six-game losing streak. Last season under coach Ardie McInelly, ISU went 25-5 overall, 18-0 in the Big Sky, and took a 21-game winning streak into the NCAA tournament. Huyett said the dismissal came out of the blue. "I was asked to meet with the AD (Monday) morning," she said in a phone interview with The Tidings. "He told me that my services were no longer required and I have not had an opportunity to discuss the basis of the situation." There's a possibility Huyett will end up coaching in Ashland again. The former Raider has yet to sell her Ashland house and the Ashland High School girls basketball team is currently being led by interim coach Stephanie Santos. Huyett was hesitant to speculate on that, however, saying only, "there is a possibility I will reside again in Ashland." Added the longtime Raider guru: "We really haven't thought about it at this point. We're really still in shock, we're still considering what our options are." When asked about the possibility, Ashland High Athletics Director Jim Nagel said: "It's going to be open, there's going to be a committee established to select a new head coach. It would depend if Shirley was strictly interested in a coaching position that (didn't pay) a whole lot of money." Nagel said AHS may also have a teaching vacancy next year as well, which could be filled by whoever is hired as the girls basketball coach. "But we're still going through the budget crunching numbers and it's hard to tell," he said. "She's certainly a high quality coach and we'd certainly consider her very seriously." Huyett built one of the most impressive resumes in the country while at SOU, winning 220 games against 111 losses, including an 87-39 record in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. In 1998-99, SOU won its second conference regular season title, boasted two NAIA All-Americans and repeated as the league tourney champion. The 1997-98 team won a school-record 28 games and spent six weeks as the No. 1 team in the NAIA Division II ratings. In 1996-97, the Raiders won 25 games and earned the school's first-ever national tournament berth. SOU advanced to the Final Four and came within a basket of appearing in the national championship game. The team's efforts landed Huyett conference and regional Coach of the Year honors. Her 1992-93 team broke virtually every team record up to that point and won the school's first-ever CCC championship. The 20-win campaign was SOU's best since 1978-79. In 1991-92, Huyett's second year at the helm, she earned Coach of the Year status for taking the overachieving Raiders to the NAIA District II title game. Prior to her arrival in Ashland, Huyett guided Philomath High to three straight Val-Co titles, and in '87, the Warriors became the first and only Oregon Class 3A team to win back-to-back state championships. From '85 to '88 PHS won a state-record 54 straight games. One of Huyett's stars was future Stanford standout Trisha Stevens, who started on the 1990 NCAA championship team. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing