Utah State's Sprinkle taking Washington coaching job

Washington is hiring Utah State's Danny Sprinkle as its next head coach, interim director of athletics Erin O'Connell announced Monday.

"Simply put, coach Sprinkle is a winner," said O'Connell. "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."

Sprinkle led Utah State to the program's first NCAA Tournament win since 2001 in his lone season with the team. The 8-seeded Aggies beat TCU in the opening round but lost to No. 1 seed Purdue on Sunday. They were ranked as high as No. 16 in the AP Poll this campaign and went 28-7 this season, with Sprinkle winning MWC Coach of the Year.

The deal will be for six years, a source told Matt Norlander of CBS Sports. The 47-year-old was also pursued by Vanderbilt, according to Norlander.

Sprinkle previously spent four seasons as head coach at Montana State. He led the Bobcats to back-to-back conference tournament championships and March Madness appearances.

Sprinkle is the third Utah State coach to leave the program for another head coaching job in three seasons. Ryan Odom left in 2023 to join VCU, while Craig Smith is now Utah's bench boss.

Toledo head coach Tod Kowalczyk is expected to be a candidate to replace Sprinkle at Utah State, a source told Norlander.

Washington parted ways with Mike Hopkins earlier in March after seven seasons in Seattle. He led the Huskies to their only March Madness appearance since 2012, which ended with a second-round loss in 2019.