Inside The Huskies

Sprinkle Says UW Rebuild Made Him Drop Zags Game

The new Husky coach told podcaster Gonzaga might have one of its best teams yet.

Dan Raley

Danny Sprinkle holds court during an NCAA tournament practice.
Danny Sprinkle holds court during an NCAA tournament practice. / Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

The University of Washington basketball roster turnover -- with more than three-quarters of the players replaced -- led to new coach Danny Sprinkle pulling out of the annual Gonzaga rivalry basketball game, at least for now, he said on a Monday podcast.

Sprinkle was left with just senior center Franck Kepnang, senior forward Wilhelm Breidenbach and redshirt freshman forward Chris King on scholarship and nothing else when he replaced the fired Mike Hopkins, forcing him to bring in 10 transfers and recruits.

As a newly hired coach, he then exercised a contract clause to pull out of Gonzaga games this coming season in Spokane and next year at home, while giving him time to build up the Husky program.

"Where our program was when we first got the job, we had just three players," Sprinkle told Jon Rothstein on College Hoops Today. "I didn't think that was the best thing for our program. This year, [the Zags] might have one of the best teams they've ever had."

As it stands, Sprinkle confirmed the Huskies will face Nevada, Washington State and Seattle U in non-conference games this coming season while seeking to add a couple matchups at home, especially with so much Big Ten travel ahead for his team.

The new coach told how the Huskies will need to charter airplanes to travel to and from the Midwest and East Coast for five Big Ten road trips plus the postseason conference tournament.

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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