Washington

Big Ten hoops additions: What to expect from Washington

Published

2 years ago

May 16, 2024

Big Ten hoops additions: What to expect from Washington

With USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington set to join the Big Ten, we’re exploring what each of these additions means to the Big Ten men’s basketball landscape. How do their fans feel about their head coach? Who has joined and left the program this offseason? Where are they projected to rank in the conference?

Next up: the Washington Huskies

Washington will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing 2023-24 season in which it went 17-15 and missed the NCAA Tournament.

Following Lorenzo Romar’s successes from 2002-17, the program turned to Mike Hopkins. Hopkins won Pac-12 Coach of the Year his first two seasons while also winning the conference regular season title in 2018-19. But that would be the peak of the Hopkins era, as the Huskies only advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament that year and never made the tournament again in his tenure.

The university let Hopkins go before quickly identifying Danny Sprinkle as their next head coach. Sprinkle comes to Washington after just one — albeit very successful — year at Utah State. Prior to that, he was at Montana State for four seasons and took them to the NCAA Tournament twice.

Last season’s Huskies were led by a pair of former Kentucky Wildcats in forward Keion Brooks Jr. (21.1 points per game) and guard Sahvir Wheeler (14.3 ppg). They had two other scorers who averaged double-digits in forward Moses Wood (11.9) and guard Koren Johnson (11.1). The Huskies also had a pair of former Big Ten players in the rotation in guard Paul Mulcahy (Rutgers) and forward Wilhelm Breidenbach (Nebraska). Centers Franck Kepnang and Braxton Meah, along with guards Nate Calmese and Anthony Holland, rounded out the rotation.

Predictably due to the coaching change, Washington’s roster is undergoing a massive overhaul. Five Huskies ran out of eligibility, while Johnson (Louisville) and Meah (Nebraska) left for greener pastures via the portal. Yates and Calmese also entered the portal but have yet to find a new home. For those keeping track at home, that’s all four of their top scorers and eight of the 10 members of the rotation that will not be returning. Only Breidenbach (5.3 ppg) and Kepnang (8.3 ppg) are expected to return.

To replace essentially the entire roster, Sprinkle brought in a transfer portal class of seven players that is currently ranked No. 2 in the Big Ten and No. 8 nationally, according to 247Sports. Headlining the class is center Great Osobor, who is following Sprinkle from Utah State to Washington. The No. 7 ranked transfer in the country this offseason, Osobor made the news recently as the highest paid transfer of all time (that we know of) as he is set to earn more than $2 million in NIL, according to ESPN.

In addition to Osobor, Sprinkle brought in highly touted guards Mekhi Mason (Rice) and D.J. Davis (Butler), and forward Tyler Harris (Portland). Mason is No. 87 on 247Sports’ transfer portal rankings, while Davis is No. 104.

Rounding out the class are unranked transfers, Chris Conway (Oakland), KC Ibekwe (Oregon State), and Luis Kortright (Rhode Island).

Washington’s incoming freshmen class is another reason for excitement. The Huskies brought in two four-star guards in Zoom Diallo and Jase Butler. Both are in the top-100 of high school prospects, with Diallo bordering on five-star status. Both are expected to be instant contributors. The class ranked No. 34 nationally and No. 6 in the Big Ten.

It’s tough to know what to project for this upcoming season’s Washington Huskies, given they return just 7.8 percent of their total minutes from a season ago. Only USC returns less minutes from last year in the new Big Ten.

Torvik currently projects Washington to go 19-12 and be the No. 52 team in the country. This would place the Huskies 14th in the Big Ten, just ahead of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Osobor certainly provides some excitement, along with the incoming freshmen guards, but the depth likely won’t be there this season.

Historically, Washington has not been a top-tier men’s basketball program. The Huskies have never won a National Championship and have made just one Final Four (1953). Their last Sweet Sixteen was in 2010.

Notable alumni of the program include Brandon Roy, Isaiah Thomas, Matisse Thybulle, Detlef Schrempf, and Dejounte Murray.

Washington is certainly in for a rude awakening in the Big Ten this year. However, Sprinkle has the ball rolling with a little momentum right now. Whether he’s able to continue that momentum will determine their early success or failure.

Source link

Related Topics:additions big brew expect Featured from front page hoops Maize Michigan men's basketball n TEN to washington What

Click to comment

Washington

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury announces she’s pregnant

Published

19 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury announces she’s pregnant

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury has announced that she and her husband Matt are expecting a baby in July.

The couple made the announcement in a video on the Spirit’s social media channels, holding a baby goalkeeper jersey on the pitch at Audi Field.

Kingsbury becomes the most recent Spirit star to go on maternity leave, following defender Casey Krueger, midfielder Andi Sullivan and forward Ashley Hatch.

Sullivan gave birth to daughter Millie in July, while Hatch welcomed her son Leo in January.

Krueger announced she was pregnant with her second child in October.

Kingsbury has served as the Spirit’s starting goalkeeper since 2018, and has been named the NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year twice (2019 and 2021).

The 34-year-old has two caps with the U.S. women’s national team, and was named to the 2023 World Cup roster.

The club captain will leave a major void for the Spirit, who have finished as NWSL runner-up in back-to-back seasons.

Sandy MacIver and Kaylie Collins are expected to compete for the starting role while Kingsbury is on maternity leave.

The Spirit kick off their 2026 campaign on March 13 against the Portland Thorns.

Source link

Washington

Washington state board awards Yakima $985,600 loan for Sixth Avenue project design

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Washington state board awards Yakima 5,600 loan for Sixth Avenue project design

YAKIMA, Wash. — Yakima could soon take a major step toward redesigning Sixth Avenue after the Washington State Public Works Board awarded the city a $985,600 loan.

The loan was approved for the design engineering phase of the Sixth Avenue project. The funding can also be used along Sixth Avenue for utility replacement and updated ADA use.

The Yakima City Council must decide whether to accept the award. If the council accepts it, the city’s engineering work will move forward with the design of Sixth Avenue.

The cost of installing trolley lines is excluded from the plan. The historic trolleys would need to raise the funds required to add trolley lines.

The award is scheduled to be discussed during next week’s City Council meeting.

Source link

Washington

Microsoft promises more AI investments at University of Washington

Published

2 days ago

February 25, 2026

Press Room

Microsoft promises more AI investments at University of Washington

Microsoft will ramp up its investment in the University of Washington.

Brad Smith, the company’s president, made the announcement at a press conference with University of Washington President Robert Jones on Tuesday.

That means hiring more UW graduates as interns at Microsoft, he said.

And he said all students, faculty, and researchers should have access to free, or at least deeply-discounted, AI.

“ Some of it is compute that Microsoft is donating, and some of it is pursuant to an agreement where, believe me, we give the University of Washington probably the best pricing that anybody’s gonna find anywhere,” Smith said. He assured the small group of reporters present that it would be “many millions of dollars of additional computational resources.”

The announcement today didn’t include any specific numbers.

But Smith said Microsoft has already invested $165 million in the UW over several decades.

He pointed to Jones’ vision to spur “radical collaborations with businesses and communities to advance positive change,” and eliminate “any artificial barriers between the university and the communities it serves.”

Microsoft’s goal is for AI to help UW researchers solve some of the world’s biggest problems without introducing new ones.

At Tuesday’s announcement, several research students were present to demonstrate how AI supports their work.

Amelia Keyser-Gibson is an environmental scientist at the UW. She’s using AI to analyze photographs of vines, to find which adapt best to climate change.

It’s a paradox: AI produces carbon emissions. At the same time, it’s also a new tool to help reduce them.

So how do those things square for Keyser-Gibson?

“ That’s a great question, and honestly, I don’t know the answer to that,” she said. “I’m highly aware that there’s a lot of environmental impact of using AI, but what I can say is that this has allowed us to make research innovations that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”

“If we had had to manually annotate every single image that would’ve been an undergrad doing that for hours,” Keyser-Gibson continued. “And we didn’t have the budget. We didn’t have the manpower to do that.”

“AI exists. If we don’t use it as researchers, we’re gonna fall behind.”

Microsoft reports on its own carbon emissions. But like most AI companies, it doesn’t reveal everything.

That’s one reason another UW student named Zhihan Zhang is using AI to estimate how much energy AI is using.

Source link