Inside The Huskies

Sprinkle's Huskies Pick Up Most Decorated Recruit Yet

Top 25 power forward Niko Bundalo commits to the UW basketball program.

Dan Raley

Niko Bundalo has committed to the UW basketball team.
Niko Bundalo has committed to the UW basketball team. / Wildcat Select

During the recent storm that besieged Seattle, Danny Sprinkle lost power at his rental house, a situation that ultimately forced him to move into his sister's home.

"That's never happened to me before," the new University of Washington basketball coach lamented.

Somehow, he kept his cell phone powered up -- because he continues to do things that haven't been done in Montlake.

On Wednesday, his Huskies received a commitment from 6-foot-10, 215-pound power forward Niko Bundalo, a lefty considered the No. 25 player in the country by ESPN now playing for a California prep school and originally from Ohio.

"I hope they are ready for a show -- that's my message to Washington fans," Bundalo told 247Sports. "It has definitely been a long process and a crazy ride to get to this point. But I think for me, I see things very clearly now and I'm very certain and very comfortable in the decision that I've made."

Bundalo is the Huskies' second Top 50 recruit for the Class of 2025, joining 6-foot-1 point guard JJ Mandaquit from Hurricane, Utah, and the second touted big man acquisition, joining 6-foot-11 Mady Traore, the former Maryland and New Mexico State now at a Texas junior college.

"Playing with JJ Mandaquit will be a lot of fun," Bundalo told ESPN. "I have played with him and against him at various times. He amplifies the players around him by how he creates for everyone."

Add in 6-foot-3 shooting guard Courtland Muldrew from Virginia's Oak Hill Academy in Virginia and originally from Arkansas, and the Huskies need only one more big name to fill out an all-newcomer starting five with big credentials.

Muldrew, Mandaquit and Traore each signed financial agreements with the UW over this past week. For the Huskies, adding Budalo is akin to Duke landing freshman sensation forward Cooper Flagg for this season.

The only previous UW players rated higher than Bundalo have been 6-foot-9 forward Isaiah Stewart, a top 5 recruit in 2019 and 6-foot-3 guard Markelle Fultz, a top 24 player from 2016. Both played one season for the Huskies before turning to the NBA.

In August, Bundalo, who hails from Uniontown, Ohio, which is halfway between Akron and Canton, had a final eight schools of Connecticut, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Texas and Xavier. He took multiple visits but couldn't find a landing spot that satisfied him.

Getting an opening, Sprinkle made immediate inroads. On the opposite end, Bundalo did his homework.

"I just think the coaching staff and the style of play fit," Bundalo told 247Sports. "For coach Sprinkle, the four-man plays the most minutes and he has one of the highest usage rates for his fours of any coach in the NCAA right now. I just think it's a great opportunity for me to go in there where Great Osobor is on his way out the door. He's a great player but him leaving and me getting a chance at that spot off the rip is a great opportunity for my development."

Bundalo, who played this past summer for the U18 Serbian national team, is spending his final high school season at Prolific Prep in Napa, California, which is where current Husky freshman guard Zoom Diallo completed his schoolboy career.

Typical of what the touted forward can do, Bundalo had a 30-point, 9-rebound, 2-assist stat line in Prolific Prep's recent 85-73 victory over the Balboa School from Florida. He shoots inside and out effectively. He has a 7-foot wing span.

No wonder Sprinkle fled to his sister's house to get power, if not a power forward.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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