There seems to be a recurring theme in Washington Husky history, but with different coaches, and now it's Danny Sprinkle's turn. It's a team full of stars that can't find wins on the court. Washington has watched No. 1 overall picks go into the NBA out of losing teams. They've watched teams with multiple eventual NBA players squander conference success. Sprinkle is now the latest victim, and he has no one to blame but himself.
This offseason has been very telling of the Husky talent from the season. Zoom Diallo, arguably Washington's second-best player, just got a lucrative deal out of the transfer portal to play for Kentucky. A blue blood. He's going to be a starter for that team. JJ Mandaquit is going to be the starting point guard for the Arizona Wildcats.
Oh, and Hannes Steinbach is reportedly a lottery pick who could have made $10 million in the transfer portal. That's three stars all gone for a team that went 16-17. Yikes.
To recap, the Washington Huskies men's basketball team has lost:
— Kevin Cacabelos (@SeaTownKev) April 15, 2026
-one starting point guard to Arizona;
-another starting combo guard to Kentucky; and
-its starting forward to the NBA draft (who was reportedly courted with near-$10 million offers to stay in school and transfer)
The Washington Huskies lost 3 stars this offseason and it shows the squandered chance
Related: Danny Sprinkle continues to fix his glaring problem from last season in the portal
Sprinkle and Husky basketball defenders will point to injuries and show that the Huskies were doomed when the team kept losing players. But the reality is, the team underperformed either way. Steinbach and Diallo were mostly healthy throughout, and Mandaquit was there for 10 of the Husky losses.
It's a terrible indictment of Danny Sprinkle, and he has to find a way to start winning. The talent was too good for him to squander it with lackluster performances on the court. There are other coaches doing far more with far less. Think of Wisconsin. Zero NBA players on that team, with one to two college stars (John Blackwell and Nick Boyd). Or Nebraska, which has a bunch of role players and arguably only one star.
This reflects on the coaches maximizing a game plan and getting the most out of their players. Is Sprinkle doing that? Or has he done that so far? It doesn't seem so, and that's a problem. Yet it's a problem he needs to figure out, because with his contract, he'll be here a bit longer.
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