Utah State coach Danny Sprinkle has agreed to become the next men's head basketball coach at Washington, sources told CBS Sports. The decision has been long anticipated by those in college basketball circles for the past few weeks, as Sprinkle has longstanding West Coast ties in addition to having a direct link to the Huskies: His father played football at the University of Washington. Sprinkle replaces Mike Hopkins, who was fired after the season following seven years leading the program, with just one NCAA Tournament appearance.
It's a six-year deal for Sprinkle, per a source, and the school will make the hiring official with an announcement in the coming hours. The school currently does not have an athletic director at the moment; Troy Dannen left last week to take the same job with Nebraska job.
Sprinkle takes over amid a major transition for the Huskies. The school joins the Big Ten later this year, following along with USC, UCLA and Oregon amid unprecedented conference expansion that led to the demise of the Pac-12.
The decision happened fast on Monday morning after Sprinkle's Utah State team was eliminated by Purdue on Sunday afternoon in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt pursued Sprinkle heavily after losing out on Dusty May, but ultimately Sprinkle felt the fit was best for him in Seattle. Sprinkle was also approached by Oklahoma State.
Sprinkle has been a rising star the past few years, taking Montana State to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments — ending a decades-long drought for that program — before guiding Utah State to an 8-seed in the Big Dance on the heels of a Mountain West regular-season championship and finishing with a 28-7 record. In his career, Sprinkle is 108-49.
The Field of 68 first reported Sprinkle's deal to Washington.
Utah State's next hire will be its sixth coach in a 10-year span. The program has been established as one of the best stepping-stone jobs in the country with its profile rising in the Mountain West. Still, it's a tough pivot for a program that only was able to retain Sprinkle, 47, for one year. As for USU candidates, Toledo coach Tod Kowalczyk is expected to firmly be in the mix list to replace Sprinkle, a source told CBS Sports. Kowalczyk has won the regular season in the MAC the past four seasons but failed to win the auto bid each year.
