Radcliffe basketball and tennis coach John McCarthy has been relieved of his intercollegiate coaching duties, Athletic Director Robert B. Watson said yesterday.

The move followed two weeks of controversy during which five members of the Radcliffe basketball team quit "because they wanted a new coach," Watson said yesterday.

McCarthy will be switched from the intercollegiate to the recreational program, and the Freshman tennis coach Corey Wynn '40 will replace McCarthy as the Radcliffe tennis coach.

Assistant Radcliffe basketball coach Mark Haviland will temporarily take over the basketball head coaching role while a special search committee looks for a permanent coach.

The search committee will include basketball co-captains Maud Wood and Sue Williams and a third member yet to be named. Haviland will be one person considered by the committee but "he is by no means the definite choice," Watson said.

Watson said that "irreconcilable differences" between the basketball players and their coach forced the coaching shift. "I saw both sides' positions very clearly and knew that this was the only way to solve the problem," he said.

Former coach McCarthy said last night that the change was necessary because of the conflict between his own personality and the type of program that the women wanted.

"I'm an easygoing guy and they wanted a demanding, high-powered type program," he said.

Members of the women's basketball team contacted yesterday refused to comment on the change. Several players said the situation was too highly charged and complicated for comment.

Corey Wynn, the new Radcliffe tennis coach, said he was happy with the change and felt that he and his assistant, Eric Cutler, could handle the additional coaching load.

Watson said the tennis and basketball situations were interrelated because so many of the women involved played on both teams.

Watson said the change involved no feelings of personal rancor or bitterness. "McCarthy is a fine coach and a fine man. This was all done in a friendly way. I'm sorry, he's sorry, and the girls are sorry," Watson said.

McCarthy said he thought the move could be related to a trend in women's sports. "Women are just looking for a more demanding approach to athletics," he said.