SEATTLE -- Teresa Wilson, who built the Washington softball program from scratch into a national powerhouse, lost her job Monday, the most significant fallout so far from a scandal involving a former team doctor who handed out narcotics to players.

"This is a difficult decision, but one I feel is necessary to move the program beyond the issues with which it has been dealing since October," athletic director Barbara Hedges said in announcing her decision to relieve Wilson of her coaching duties.

Wilson was visiting relatives in Missouri and could not be reached for comment Monday.

In October, state health investigators suspended the license of Dr. William Scheyer, who had been team physician for the softball team, after investigators determined he improperly prescribed and dispensed large quantities of narcotics, tranquilizers and other prescription drugs to UW softball players in recent years.

But Hedges refused Monday to get into specifics of why Wilson was being let go as coach, citing an ongoing investigation by the university into the Scheyer case.

The Washington State Patrol and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, under guidance of the U.S. Attorney's Office, has opened a criminal investigation into the allegations involving the softball program.

Norm Arkans, special assistant to UW President Lee Huntsman, said he hoped the university's investigation will be concluded by the end of January. He said no other personnel decisions were anticipated for now.

Citing an unidentified source, The News Tribune of Tacoma reported Sunday that an internal university investigation revealed Wilson knew Scheyer, 76, of Kirkland improperly handed out drugs to her players.

Wilson, 41, will be reassigned within the Huskies' athletic department, but Hedges said she didn't know what Wilson's new duties will be.

Wilson's $93,000-a-year contract won't be renewed when it expires June 30, Hedges said.

Assistant coaches Scott Centala and Steve Dailey will coach the Huskies for the 2004 season on an interim basis, Hedges said. Centala has been an assistant at Washington for seven seasons and Dailey for one.

Hedges, 66, whose own contract expires in June, said the university would seek to hire a new head coach after the 2004 season. She said both Centala and Dailey could be candidates.

In 11 seasons as Washington's only softball coach, Wilson compiled a 532-198-1 record, a .728 winning percentage. Her program has produced 16 All-Americas and has qualified for postseason play for 10 straight years.

Washington was ranked No. 1 in 1996. It reached the College World Series six times, playing in the championship games in 1996 and 1999.

Hedges said she hopes Wilson gets another coaching job after the Washington softball investigation concludes.

"Teresa has had a remarkable career at the University of Washington," she said. "This is very difficult for the university."

Hedges told Wilson of her decision Friday.

"It certainly wasn't a telephone call I liked to make," she said. "She built an amazing program here."

Wilson is the second prominent coach at Washington to lose her job this year. Hedges fired former football coach Rick Neuheisel in June for gambling on the NCAA basketball tournament, then initially lying to NCAA investigators. Neuheisel contested his firing and has sued the university and NCAA.

Since 1999, Washington student-athletes have been treated by doctors from the University of Washington Medical Center. At Wilson's insistence, Scheyer was retained as an outside team physician for softball.

When complaints of Scheyer's dealings with softball players surfaced in 2001, assistant athletic director Dave Burton tried to fire him. Wilson intervened, and Scheyer stayed on as the team's "consulting physician."

Hedges terminated Scheyer's involvement at the end of August, when state Health Department investigators questioned whether he illegally prescribed thousands of doses of painkillers and other drugs to the softball team.

The state suspended Scheyer's medical license in October after health investigators determined he had improperly written hundreds of prescriptions in the names of a Washington softball player, a school athletic trainer and a USA Softball team trainer.

In October, Wilson denied knowing of any illegal medical practices by Scheyer.

However, one softball player questioned during the investigation said she was given tranquilizers and painkillers before and during games so she could play injured.

Another said some athletes were given medications to play, but that it was to remain "hush-hush." A former athlete told state health investigators Wilson liked Scheyer "because the athletes were always able to play."

Wilson, the first woman to play and coach in softball's College World Series, came to Washington in 1992 after coaching at Minnesota and Oregon. Her record with the Huskies is 532-198-1.