The Many Coaching Moves of UW's Danny Sprinkle

The Husky leader made several masterful moves against Maryland.

Freshman Zoom Diallo was hard to guard against Maryland. / Skylar Lin Visuals

On game day, the difference between Mike Hopkins and Danny Sprinkle as University of Washington basketball coaches is the former always wore a suit and tie to work while his successor chooses a black sweat suit, as if he's ready go in and play at any moment.

On Thursday, Sprinkle offered yet another distinct difference in their coaching styles. Whereas Hopkins had a set starting lineup and a rigid eight-man rotation he never strayed from, Sprinkle showed in a 75-69 victory over Maryland he's willing to use as many players and in whatever manner needed to get a positive outcome.

As the Husky coach prepares to send his team (10-4 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) up against 22nd-ranked Illinois (10-3, 2-1) on Sunday afternoon at Alaska Airlines Arena, it will be interesting to see what he has in store for the Illini.

Against Maryland, Sprinkle found room for 11 different players to contribute in some meaningful way in a game that was close from start to finish.

It was pure genius for Sprinkle to turn to Rhode Island transfer Luis Kortright, who previously had gone from starter to sitting out a pair of games in their entirety, in the second half against the Terrapins.

Luis Kortright runs the floor with Zoom Diallo against Maryland. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Kortright entered the game in the second half and supplied 7 points inside the final eight minutes of play, handling a key role in putting the Huskies on top for good.

"He was phenomenal," Sprinkle said of his guard from New York City. "Luis knows -- he's been in my doghouse. Since he came back from Christmas, he's been a different Luis."

KC Ibekwe, the 6-foot-10, 187-pound Oregon State transfer, was another well-utilized piece. After sitting out eight of the previous 13 UW outings, the big man was sent onto the floor for six second-half minutes in an effort to slow down Maryland's talented big men.

Ibekwe assumed some sort of enforcer's role, drawing four fouls as he mixed it up with the Terrapins' 6-foot-10 freshman center Derik Queen and 6-foot-9 senior forward Julian Reese. Still, there had to be some allowances when putting him on the floor. The big man made 2 of 4 foul shots, banking them in.

KC Ibekwe banked in 2 of his 4 foul shots against Maryland. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Other interesting tweaks by Sprinkle were his use of guards Zoom Diallo and DJ Davis. He brought both of them off the bench rather than start them, and Diallo was at his best with a career-high 18 points and Davis chipped in 17, dropping in 3 of 6 3-pointers, with long-range shooting his specialty.

If anything, Sprinkle has showed he doesn't need Hopkins-like guard rails to pull off a big win. He's more than willing to trade lineups and try different player rotations, and get everyone involved in the quest at hand. And he'll be most comfortable that black sweat suit, enabling him to be at his coaching best.

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