Report: Washington ‘hopes’ to play Gonzaga after 2024-25 season

Huskies and Bulldogs could resume annual nonconference men's basketball game after this upcoming season

Dec 9, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Ryan Nembhard (0) dribbles the ball while chased by Washington Huskies forward Keion Brooks Jr. (1) during the game at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports / Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington vs. Gonzaga men’s basketball series could resume after the 2024-25 season, according to a report from college basketball insider Jon Rothstein.

After it was confirmed that the Huskies and Bulldogs won’t face off in the Kennel as planned next season, Rothstein reported that Washington head coach Danny Sprinkle “hopes” to resume the in-state rivalry following the school’s first season in the Big Ten. Gonzaga and Washington renewed its home-and-home series through the 2025-26 campaign after the matchup in 2021-22 was canceled due to COVID-19. The game in 2024-25 would’ve been the third of a four-game series after the Huskies downed the Zags last season in Seattle.

Sprinkle is heading into his first season at the helm of Washington, as the 47-year-old from Pullman returns to the Evergreen State following one season as the head coach of Utah State. The Aggies claimed the Mountain West Conference regular season title with a 28-7 (14-4 MWC) record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011. Great Osobar, the reigning Mountain West Player of the Year with Utah State, followed Sprinkle to the Pacific Northwest and committed to the Huskies for his senior season.

Osobar is far from Washington’s only newcomer — Sprinkle reeled in seven transfers via the portal and is expected to return just 16.0% of the minutes played from the 2023-24 season. 

A new head coach, new conference affiliation and a relatively new roster could’ve been factors in Washington and Gonzaga not playing in 2024-25.

“Usually the way contracts are written for these multi-year series of games, is that if one of the coaching staffs were to leave or to get fired, there’s an ability to get out of that game,” Dan Dickau said on Gonzaga Nation. “And so from what I’ve heard, it sounded like UW wanted out.”

The Zags had won 14 of the past 15 meetings before the Huskies overcame a double-digit deficit to pull out a 78-73 win at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion this past December. Gonzaga won the previous meeting, a 77-60 triumph at the McCarthey Athletic Center in Dec. 2022. Three years prior to that, the Zags escaped with an 83-76 win in Seattle.

After playing each other for eight straight seasons from 1999-2006, the in-state rivals called off the series following the 2006-07 season. Gonzaga won seven of those eight meetings, six of which were decided by double-digits. After facing off in the 2015 Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, the Zags and Huskies agreed on a four-year home-and-home series that began in 2016.

In March, Washington parted ways with head coach Mike Hopkins after a 17-15 campaign (9-11 in Pac-12) in 2023-24. The Huskies went 118-106 in seven seasons under Hopkins and made the NCAA Tournament in 2019.

Gonzaga’s 2024-25 nonconference schedule features high-profile matchups against Kentucky (Seattle, Dec. 7), UConn (New York, Dec. 14), UCLA (Inglewood, California; TBD) and at San Diego State (TBD). The Bulldogs also have three games in the Battle 4 Atlantis (Nov. 27-29), an eight-team event headlined by Arizona, Indiana and Providence. They’ll face Nicholls State out of the Southland Conference at the Kennel on Dec. 18 as well.

The Bulldogs face an 18-game West Coast Conference schedule, as the league officially welcomed Washington State and Oregon State.