Washington's coaching search took another interesting turn Tuesday night.

According to sources very close to the situation, Pepperdine coach Steve Rodriguez has officially removed his name from the Washington coaching discussion.

Rodriguez was considered a long shot for the Huskies at the start of the search process. He played for Pepperdine and was a member of the 1992 team that won the national title. Rodriguez also is very happy in Southern California with his family.

With Rodriguez off the board for the Huskies, all eyes now turn to Hawaii's Mike Trapasso, Gonzaga's Mark Machtolf and San Francisco's Nino Giarratano.

I get the feeling Trapasso definitely would take the Washington job. I also think it would take good packages for Machtolf and Giarratano to leave their respective programs.

Sources close to the situation told me tonight that UW is in no hurry to make a hire.

We know at least one thing, though. Steve Rodriguez is staying at Pepperdine.