Georgetown makes Darnell Haney its women's basketball coach after a season as interim

WASHINGTON (AP) — Darnell Haney was promoted to head coach of the Georgetown women's basketball team on Wednesday after one season in an interim role succeeding the late Tasha Butts.

Haney has led the Hoyas to a 22-11 record — their most wins since the 2010-11 season — including a run to the Big East Tournament championship game and a berth in the first Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament. Georgetown plays Washington in the first round on Thursday night.

Haney came to Georgetown before this season as the associate head coach for Butts, who was hired last April but died of cancer in October at age 41 before coaching a game.

“Coach Haney was faced with an unimaginable task, but he certainly rose to the challenge,” athletic director Lee Reed said. “He took our program to new heights this postseason and has proven to be a teacher, mentor and role model."

In the conference tournament last week, Georgetown beat No. 21 Creighton in the semifinals for its first win since 2016 against a team ranked in the AP Top 25 and reached the Big East title game for the first time before losing against UConn.

Haney was previously the head coach at Jacksonville University.

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball