Danny Sprinkle flips Washington Huskies’ outlook with transfer class

By Mike Vorel Seattle Times columnist

“As far as having a chip on my shoulder,” Danny Sprinkle said, “it’s kind of always who I’ve been. If I have to make stuff up in my own mind to put that chip there, that’s what I do.”

In this case, UW’s men’s basketball coach doesn’t need to make up any extra motivation.

Not when Sprinkle’s team finished last in the Big Ten in his first season in Seattle, producing a 4-16 record in conference play. Not when Sprinkle, a lifelong Husky fan and the son of former UW football player Bill Sprinkle, earned his first losing record in six seasons as a college head coach. Not when UW landed 17th out of 18 Big Ten teams in scoring (71.6 points per game), then lost seven players to the transfer portal.

All of which makes UW’s roster makeover even more remarkable.

From the Big Ten basement, Sprinkle has built a team with legitimate NCAA tournament potential. It’s headed by two former USC Trojans, in standout guards Desmond Claude and Wesley Yates III. It also features two reigning conference players of the year in East Tennessee State guard Quimari Peterson and Lipscomb forward Jacob Ognacevic. Graduate student center Franck Kepnang and sophomore guard Zoom Diallo, UW’s two returners, figure to fill significant roles as well.

“Our guard play is going to be night and day compared to what it was last year, I think and I hope,” Sprinkle said Tuesday.

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Night and day might be an accurate descriptor of UW’s entire outlook. In all, its eight-player transfer class ranks 13th in the country by 247Sports. Sprinkle signed four true freshmen (three blue-chip recruits) as well, upgrading his roster in a single offseason.

The Huskies’ transfer haul

Player | Previous school | Notable 2024 statistics

G Desmond Claude | USC | 15.8 PPG, 4.2 APG, 48.2% FG

G Wesley Yates III | USC | 14.1 PPG, 47.8% FG, 43.9% 3FG

F Jacob Ognacevic | Lipscomb | 20.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 57.5% FG, 40.2% 3FG

G Quimari Peterson | East Tennessee State | 19.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 46.8% FG, 42.2% 3FG

F Bryson Tucker | Indiana | 5.4 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 37.8% FG

C Lathan Sommerville | Rutgers | 8.2 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 50.6% FG

F Christian Nitu | Florida State | 1.9 PPG, 40.9% FG

C Mady Traore | Frank Phillips College | 17.8 PPG, 64.6% FG

On paper the Huskies have loads of guard play — with Peterson, Claude, Yates and Diallo all intriguing options. Yates, Ognacevic and Peterson should be potent three-point shooters, and Kepnang and Sommerville provide a physical presence inside.

On paper — I’ve purposely repeated it — this looks like an NCAA tournament team.

But you’ve heard that before.

In an era when rosters annually reset, Sprinkle must prove the pieces actually fit.

“It was some random scenarios and our staff really doing a great job of turning over every rock, man,” Sprinkle said of the joint recruiting effort. “Now we’ve got to get them all playing together and sharing the basketball.”

From a recruiting standpoint, what did Sprinkle learn from a disappointing UW debut?

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Timing matters.

Money matters, too.

“Basically, if you really want a kid you have to put your best foot forward and try and get him, and you better try and get him right away,” he said. “Because we missed on probably three kids last year that were actually all in our league. It was just money. We didn’t have the money.

“The agents would say, ‘Hey, the kid will come to Washington. This is what he’s getting offered by another school in your league.’ Sometimes I’d have to call their bluff and be like, ‘No, there’s no way that kid’s going to make that much money.’ And the next day he’d sign with another school in our league. It happened to me three times last year, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is real.’ ”

Still, the secret to recruiting is not always obvious.

Take Claude, who completed UW’s reshaped roster last week. When the 6-6 senior guard entered the transfer portal, Sprinkle and Co. made immediate contact.

“Then basically it went radio silent for about two weeks. We didn’t hear from him, his dad, nothing,” Sprinkle said.

But after an Alabama visit was canceled, Claude instead made a stop on Montlake.

Followed by a second stretch of silence.

“I knew if he could see it and feel it, it would give us the best chance,” Sprinkle continued. “So he visited, and it went radio silent for another two weeks. We didn’t hear from the kid or the dad. To be honest, there were times where I was calling them to almost say, ‘Hey man, it was great to meet you guys. We’re out.’ Because I didn’t think we had any chance.

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“It was just their way of doing the process, and there’s nothing wrong with it. But I think some other schools probably thought they were out also. So those other schools signed other people. He called us and just said, ‘I’m ready to go.’ Literally, I hadn’t heard from him in over two weeks.”

How Claude — the No. 31 portal player, per 247Sports — got here doesn’t matter. Same for Peterson, Ognacevic, Yates and the rest of a hastily reassembled roster.

But can a squad of assembled pieces cohesively work as one?

If they do, Sprinkle might have to start making up more motivation.

“I’m more motivated than ever,” the 48-year-old coach said. “I’m always motivated, but now we have something to prove. We really do. It’s going to be the hardest thing anybody — me, my staff, our players — have ever had to do. Because you can be motivated and still get your teeth kicked in in the Big Ten.”

To snap a six-year NCAA tournament drought, UW will need more than motivation, or money.

It’s been an impressive offseason. But soon enough, we’ll see just what the Huskies have.

Mike Vorel: mvorel@seattletimes .com. Mike Vorel joined The Seattle Times in July 2018, after spending three years writing about Notre Dame football for the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune. He knows now that umbrellas are overrated and the marine layer is merciless. As a sports columnist, he strives to tell essential stories you can’t find anywhere else.