Washington men's overhauled roster showed new plan at summer practice

SEATTLE — First impressions can be tricky to accurately assess because most everyone is often on their best behavior and anxious to please.

Such was the case early Monday morning when the Washington men’s basketball team gathered for its first summer workout at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Near the end of a lively and frenetic two-hour workout, the Huskies finished with a five-on-five fast-break drill in which the post players raced to the rim to receive long passes from guards for transition baskets.

After newcomer Desmond Claude connected with Franck Kepnang for an emphatic windmill dunk, coach Danny Sprinkle nodded and pumped his fist on the sideline before shouting: “That’s what it should look like!”

Because of the addition of 13 newcomers, Washington’s identity is a work in progress and will likely be a topic of concern throughout the 2025-26 season.

But one thing is for certain: The Huskies intend to run faster, shoot quicker and infuse speed into a pedestrian offense that averaged just 71.6 points and ranked next to last in the Big Ten last season.

“I’ve said it before, last year I hate playing like that, but we had to limit possessions with that group to give ourselves a chance to succeed. I don’t want to do that,” Sprinkle said. “We’re going to play fast. I want to attack. I want to get our guards downhill [and] bigs at the front of the rim. If you’re open, we got to knock it down. We want to shoot and make a lot more 3s and just play a lot more aggressive style on both sides of the ball.

“But a lot of that stuff, we’ll kind of see because you never know until you get there. What’s their basketball IQ like? Can they pass? Do they make players better? Are they good screeners? And so we’ll have to see how they all kind of come together and hopefully the end of September, we’ll have more of a plan of how we can play.”

Per NCAA rules, Division I basketball teams are allowed eight hours per week to oversee strength and conditioning trailing and skill instruction for eight weeks. Coaches can supervise practice for a maximum of four hours per week.

It’s enough time for the Huskies to see how the team they assembled in the offseason may coalesce when the season starts in the fall.

Admittedly, Sprinkle is anxious to turn the page on his forgettable first year at Montlake and in the Big Ten that produced 13-18 record and last-place conference finish at 4-16.

Over the past four months, he repeatedly hit recruiting home runs while replenishing a depleted roster besieged with defections and returning just two players in Vazoumana Diallo and Franck Kepnang.

Led by Claude and former Husky Wesley Yates III, Washington’s group of seven transfers (Quimari Peterson, Lathan Sommerville, Bryson Tucker, Jacob Ognacevic and Christian Nitu) ranks 13th nationally, according to 247Sports.com.

And the Huskies incoming freshman class (JJ Mandaquit, Jasir Rencher, Courtland Muldrew, Hannes Steinbach and junior-college transfer Mady Traore) is also ranked 18th nationally, by 247Sports.com.

Seemingly, UW has made massive upgrades in talent, which explains why Sprinkle is so optimistic heading into Year 2.

“[It’s] night and day, from an energy standpoint, from a personality standpoint,” said Sprinkle, when asked how the Huskies compare to last season’s team. “We got guys that talk. They’re fun to be around. They compete. It’s a whole different level. You could just feel it today, the competition [and] our body type. We look different. … Just our size and our girth, we’re a lot bigger. We’re thicker and hopefully it translates to a lot more wins.”

Still, it remains to be seen if the Huskies have done enough to rise to the top half of the vaunted 18-team Big Ten and snap their six-year NCAA tournament drought.

Washington is predicted to narrowly miss the Big Dance, according to ESPN bracket guru Joe Lunardi.

“Guys are going to have to invest in each other,” Sprinkle said. “We have a lot of talent. We got scores. We got size. We got athleticism and they got to push each other to get better. There’s going to be a lot of competition at every spot, which I love. That’s the only way to get better. We have a lot more depth this year than we did and hopefully that pushes our practices to be better.

“You got to be on point every day and if you’re not you’re going to get embarrassed and that’s what all good teams have. But we have to really come together as a group. … The harder we play and the quicker that we come together and share each other’s success, the more successful we’ll be.”

This week, the Huskies are without Mandaquit and Steinbach who are playing for USA and Germany, respectively, at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Switzerland.

Washington is also missing Nitu, who is playing for the Romania U20 team, and Traore who needs to resolve a visa issue before joining the Huskies.

“The hardest thing for all of us coaches around the country, football and basketball, now you got to piece them together,” Sprinkle said. “Now you have the talent, but you also have to make sure that they’re coming to the University of Washington to win.

“At the end of the day, that’s what we’re all being judged on. And you got to have guys that can come together and share each other’s success and play for one another and play for [Isaiah Thomas] and Brandon Roy and the guys that played here before. They have to have that importance and that pride, which is not easy, but that’s our job.”

____