LOGAN, Utah, March 25, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Danny Sprinkle is leaving Utah State after just one season to become the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Washington.
Sprinkle, who guided Utah State to a Mountain West Conference regular-season title, an NCAA Tournament appearance and the program’s first victory in the Big Dance since 2001, was announced as the Huskies’ new head coach Monday.
Sprinkle reportedly signed a six-year, $22.1 million contract to become the head coach at Washington as it joins the Big Ten Conference.
“It was going to take something special for me to leave Logan, and the University of Washington was it,” said Sprinkle, who was born in Pullman, Washington. “The university means a great deal to our family, and I am excited to return to my home state.
“With a strong commitment to excellence and incredible fan support, we will recruit exceptional young men who will take pride in wearing the purple and gold, who will win championships and who will leave UW with an impressive degree. I am excited to get started and to be a part of such a special place.”
Sprinkle was named Mountain West Coach of the Year after taking a team picked in the preseason to finish ninth in the conference and leading the Aggies to their first outright regular-season title in 11 years.
The Helena, Montana, native also guided the eighth-seeded Aggies to their first NCAA Tournament victory in 23 years with an 88-72 victory over TCU in the first round Friday night in Indianapolis. Utah State’s season ended Sunday with a 106-67 loss to top-seeded Purdue.
“Utah State men’s basketball had a great season under coach Sprinkle’s leadership,” USU Vice President and Athletics Director Diana Sabau said. “We did everything possible to retain him with a package that would have been highly competitive in the Mountain West in terms of compensation and support.”
A national search for the Aggies’ next head men’s basketball coach is underway, Sabau said.
After leading Montana State to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2022 and 2023, Sprinkle left his alma mater to take over a Utah State team with 13 newcomers.
Under Sprinkle, Utah State (28-7 overall, 14-4 Mountain West) tied for the third-most wins in school history and posted its third-best record in the Mountain West in its 11 years in the conference. It was also just the second time since the 1970 season that USU advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, joining the 2001 team.
“Simply put, coach Sprinkle is a winner,” said Erin O’Connell, Washington’s interim director of athletics. “He won as a high school player, as a collegiate student-athlete, as an assistant coach, and then at both stops as a head coach, including the recent regular-season conference championship at Utah State.
“But beyond his coaching acumen is his ability to connect with student-athletes, develop them into outstanding young men and basketball players and embrace the community around him. Coach is exactly what our program needs at this moment in time and we are thrilled to have him take the reins of our men’s basketball program.”
Prior to his single season at USU, Sprinkle spent four years as head coach at Montana State, accumulating an 81-43 record and winning Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year in 2022. The Bobcats won the Big Sky regular-season championship in 2022 and won the postseason conference tournament in both 2022 and 2023.
His father, Bill Sprinkle, played defensive back for the Washington football program from 1965-68.
“We’re very excited to welcome Danny Sprinkle to the University of Washington,” President Ana Mari Cauce said. “He’s someone who brings a great track record as a head coach, and from our conversations I know he’s committed to our Huskies succeeding on and off the court. He’s a great fit for the culture we have at the UW, plus he comes from a Husky family, and I can’t wait to see him on the sidelines in Alaska Airlines Arena.”
Prior to his tenure at Montana State, Sprinkle served as an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Northridge. He was part of NCAA Tournament teams at Fullerton (2018) and Cal State Northridge (2001 and 2009), with CSUN winning conference championships in both of those seasons.
Sprinkle earned all-state honors twice in basketball as a student at HelenaHigh School, while also competing in football and track and field. He earned a bachelor’s degree in health and human development from Montana State in 2000.
