Danny Sprinkle was born in Pullman and grew up in Montana. This sort of upbringing doesn’t typically prime a person for affection toward the University of Washington, but Sprinkle’s no typical person. Sprinkle’s father, Bill, played defensive back for the Husky football team in the late ’60s. After Danny came into the world, his dad would drive him from Helena to one Husky home football game a year in the family minivan, often stopping at University Bookstore for a souvenir after the final whistle sounded. The game he and his dad would attend was “random,” recalls Sprinkle, but the Montlake connection would prove indelible. After four successful years as the head basketball coach of his alma mater, Montana State University, Sprinkle took the helm of Utah State’s team last season. There are fresh starts, and then there were the Aggies, a squad made up of players who hadn’t scored a single point the year before. New basketball coach Danny Sprinkle had to mine the transfer portal to fill out the 13 roster spots on the Husky squad. Sprinkle took the Utah State Aggies, a team that was predicted to finish ninth in the Mountain West, and proceeded to win the program’s first ever outright Mountain West regular season title. As one does in the Name, Image and Likeness era, Sprinkle mined the transfer portal for most of the 13 roster spots that needed filling. Picked to finish ninth in the Mountain West, the Aggies not only finished first in the regular season but managed an upset over Texas Christian University in the NCAA tourney. It was the school’s first tournament victory since 2001. Sprinkle inherits a similarly clean slate in his first year as head coach of the UW men’s basketball team. Only two returnees, Franck Kepnang and Wilhelm Breidenbach, made even modest contributions last season, averaging 13.6 points per game between them. Hence, the 2024-2025 Huskies will feature 11 newcomers, including burly transfer Great Osobar, one of the best players on Sprinkle’s Utah State squad last season. Sprinkle inherits a similarly clean slate in his first year as head coach of the UW men’s basketball team. Only two returnees, Franck Kepnang and Wilhelm Breidenbach, made even modest contributions last season, averaging 13.6 points per game between them. Hence, the 2024-2025 Huskies will feature 11 newcomers, including burly transfer Great Osobar, one of the best players on Sprinkle’s Utah State squad last season. “It’s a totally different team,” Sprinkle says. “We had to basically sign all 13 in Utah State, and we had to sign 11 here. But I like our group. Obviously, we’re in the best league in the country. It’s gonna be a challenge, but it’s getting the guys to play hard and play for one another. And that’s the one thing that made us successful at Utah State is—nobody cared who got the credit.” Oh, right, the best league in the country. The Huskies, like many of their former Pac-12 rivals, will be taking a step up in class by joining the Big Ten this season and will undoubtedly be projected to be among the conference’s also-rans. When asked to compare the Big Ten and Pac-12, Sprinkle said, “I think the Big Ten is the most prepared league in the country from a coaching standpoint. The Big Ten is the most physical. It’s going to be a completely different style. And we’re going to have to get used to it.” An opportunity he couldn’t pass up After last season’s success, Sprinkle wasn’t actively looking to move. But the opportunity at Washington qualified as what he considers “one of the two or three moments in your life where it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass on.” Sprinkle’s sister has lived in Seattle for several years, and he enjoys dining with her at places like Uptown China on Queen Anne. “There’s something about being by the water,” he says. “There’s just a calming presence even when you’re flying into Seattle.” It’s hard to argue with that.

Head coach Danny Sprinkle brings childhood memories and a 109

Danny Sprinkle was born in Pullman and grew up in Montana. This sort of upbringing doesn’t typically prime a person for affection toward the University of Washington, but Sprinkle’s no typical person. Sprinkle’s father, Bill, played defensive back for the Husky football team in the late ’60s. After Danny came into the world, his dad […]

Danny Sprinkle was born in Pullman and grew up in Montana. This sort of upbringing doesn’t typically prime a person for affection toward the University of Washington, but Sprinkle’s no typical person.

Sprinkle’s father, Bill, played defensive back for the Husky football team in the late ’60s. After Danny came into the world, his dad would drive him from Helena to one Husky home football game a year in the family minivan, often stopping at University Bookstore for a souvenir after the final whistle sounded.

The game he and his dad would attend was “random,” recalls Sprinkle, but the Montlake connection would prove indelible.

After four successful years as the head basketball coach of his alma mater, Montana State University, Sprinkle took the helm of Utah State’s team last season. There are fresh starts, and then there were the Aggies, a squad made up of players who hadn’t scored a single point the year before.

: New basketball coach Danny Sprinkle had to mine the transfer portal to fill out the 13 roster spots on the Husky squad.

: Sprinkle took the Utah State Aggies, a team that was predicted to finish ninth in the Mountain West, and proceeded to win the program’s first ever outright Mountain West regular season title.

As one does in the Name, Image and Likeness era, Sprinkle mined the transfer portal for most of the 13 roster spots that needed filling. Picked to finish ninth in the Mountain West, the Aggies not only finished first in the regular season but managed an upset over Texas Christian University in the NCAA tourney. It was the school’s first tournament victory since 2001.

Sprinkle inherits a similarly clean slate in his first year as head coach of the UW men’s basketball team. Only two returnees, Franck Kepnang and Wilhelm Breidenbach, made even modest contributions last season, averaging 13.6 points per game between them. Hence, the 2024-2025 Huskies will feature 11 newcomers, including burly transfer Great Osobar, one of the best players on Sprinkle’s Utah State squad last season.

“It’s a totally different team,” Sprinkle says. “We had to basically sign all 13 in Utah State, and we had to sign 11 here. But I like our group. Obviously, we’re in the best league in the country. It’s gonna be a challenge, but it’s getting the guys to play hard and play for one another. And that’s the one thing that made us successful at Utah State is—nobody cared who got the credit.”

Oh, right, the best league in the country. The Huskies, like many of their former Pac-12 rivals, will be taking a step up in class by joining the Big Ten this season and will undoubtedly be projected to be among the conference’s also-rans.

When asked to compare the Big Ten and Pac-12, Sprinkle said, “I think the Big Ten is the most prepared league in the country from a coaching standpoint. The Big Ten is the most physical. It’s going to be a completely different style. And we’re going to have to get used to it.”

An opportunity he couldn’t pass up

After last season’s success, Sprinkle wasn’t actively looking to move. But the opportunity at Washington qualified as what he considers “one of the two or three moments in your life where it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass on.” Sprinkle’s sister has lived in Seattle for several years, and he enjoys dining with her at places like Uptown China on Queen Anne.

“There’s something about being by the water,” he says. “There’s just a calming presence even when you’re flying into Seattle.”

It’s hard to argue with that.