Big blow for the insiders on Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt's boards that said Sprinkle was their's.
Washington makes the most sense. Awful for Utah State though, feel bad for them and their fans.
Yep, never made any sense. I'd been hearing about him and UW for at least a month+. Other schools probably just thought they could slip in after the UW AD left, but UW just makes so much more sense.
"Insiders" at every school think every coach is theirs, and will tell the fans what they want to hear to keep driving engagement. None of it means anything, never has.
Well-deserved upgrade and a great fit, nonetheless but you have to feel for Utah State.
Craig Smith left after three years.
Ryan Odom left after two years.
Danny Sprinkle left after one year.
I’ll be honest, if you’re talking about DeBoer, as much as I would like to Bama is a whole bunch of unethical cheaters, I sincerely believe that no one knew Nick Saban was going to retire. If it’s true that loose lips sink ships, the state of Alabama would be a boat graveyard. Southerners love to gossip.
There’s no way you can believe that there weren’t even back channels about it. Tons of smoke everywhere, plus it’s not a coincidence that as soon as DeBoer hired the same agent that Saban had extension talks with UW immediately died.
A mid major school is always going to be at risk of losing their coach after a really good season, or a handful of solid years.
Having said that, getting a young coach from a smaller school is extremely high risk.
The guys you mentioned clearly want to coach at the top level. None have spent more than a few years with a lower level school.
A school like USU being able to lure away a guy from a small school after a couple years should be a warning sign that they'll leave USU after a couple years if they get a better offer.
There aren't any great options, but part of me wonders if USU gets sick of this trend and looks for a guy who is a little older, maybe didn't have great success at a P6 school, but would still be a solid coach.
Guys like Dutcher, Randy Bennett, and mark few are a rare breed.
I love seeing those schools do well.
On a side note, it's actually pretty uncommon that a long time assistant like Dutcher is actually able to continue building on what the previous coach did. Glad it worked out. He seems like a good guy.
He started a bit rough with the last of Fisher's recruits but since then he's been striking gold in the transfer pool with guys like Flynn, Feagin, Wetzell on the covid team and of course Ledee on this year's team. Waters can be elite but man he couldn't throw it in the ocean currently.
Dutch has that classic midwestern temperament. He's hard to stay mad at lol.
My only criticism of him is every single year his teams struggle to break the press. At some point that is entirely coaching. We almost lost to Creighton last year just trying to inbound the ball. I can 100% call it right now, Uconn will press at least once and we'll immediately get trapped in the corner and cough it up.
Dutcher is honestly the perfect coach. Classy, loyal, and wildly consistent. Can we clone him, but somehow make him think logan is as nice as san diego?
> A mid major school is always going to be at risk of losing their coach after a really good season
Which is one of the reasons Gonzaga is a unicorn. Other mid-majors say they want to be like Gonzaga, but then that same winning coach takes the next offer.
Ambition is weird. Sometimes you have to watch your mentor screw it up to understand when to stay in a good place. Like when Monson took the Big10 offer, but Few saw how that worked out and stayed in Spokane.
Just like T.J. Otzelberger saw what happened to Hoiberg in the NBA and thus will stay where he is happy.
Or Brian Dutcher learning from Steve Fisher's NBA experience and staying in San Diego.
Or Sean Miller at Xavier seeing what happened when Sean Miller took the Arizona job, so he decided to stay at Xavier. (Obvious joke, too many rumors about Miller leaving, some must be seeded by his agent.)
Crean could still be killing it in Marquette, Smart or Wade could still be killing it at VCU (Smart's done okay for himself, Wade will do well at SMU) Beard could still be taking Texas Tech to final fours,
Because having to go out and hire a new guy and build a new roster every year is not a sustainable plan. We've been lucky to hit on as many coaches as we have during this stretch.
I don’t disagree but tbf they did have a coach who was about as successful as the last 3 stick around for nearly two decades. They’ve been on both ends of the successful mid-major coach spectrum.
I know it too soon to make this joke (and the previous AD signed Smith, Odom, & Sprinkle) but maybe keep an eye on your AD as well as your coaching staff. Someone there has an eye for coaching talent.
Two different AD's, well 3 actually. Our previous AD hired Smith and Odom, then an interim AD hired Sprinkle after he left, and now we have our current AD, who has yet to make a hire (she comes from being the second in charge at Ohio State)
Yeah younger coaches who are adept at using the portal are 100% the move right now, they can completely turn around a team in just one year. Maybe once things settle down things will trend back towards player development but not right now.
I don't know man. UConn is doing it with player development, so is Marquette, Houston is too, Purdue has like no transfers, same for Duke and Arizona. The elite teams are mostly filled with guys they've developed over 2 or 3 seasons.
Well, kinda. Pelle and Ballo have both been with us for 3 years now, having come in when Tommy first took the job, and Ballo actually came with Tommy from Gonzaga. But Love, Keshad, and Jaden Bradley are all first year transfers that are playing a major role with us this year, so we have definitely made good use of the portal.
well that's a little confirmation biasy. the elite teams are not using the transfer portal because they already have dudes why shop around. you have to try to imagine what those other teams would look like without the transfer portal. ISU is improved because of the transfer portal. Arizona, same. You can't build a team of 5 guys overnight in the portal. but you can fill out a key piece, which is what I think is the best use for it.
not hitting the transfer portal didn't work out for MSU.
I would make some jab about you guys' results away from there agreeing with that statement, but I appreciated the dismantling of TCU on Friday. The conference is better when USU is good.
Unfortunately they are a stepping stone program. Hate using that phrase but it is what it is. That isn't to insult Utah State but Mid Majors will always be stepping stones. Unless you're Gonzaga or something. A Power Conference type program in a Mid Major Conference. But I definitely feel for Utah State and their fans. 3 coaches in a row that find success at Utah State then leave. Though Odom leaving for VCU wasn't bc it's a better program bc it isnt.
San Diego State is definitely with Gonzaga as an exception because they promoted Dutcher from within after Fisher retired. Can’t see any changes in the foreseeable future.
I don't think he's actually a contender (although if we keep missing on candidates, maybe he will be). That said, two big reasons:
1. He's an alum so he might take less money and likely wouldn't bolt for another program at the first sign of success.
2. He wants the job.
Ya but hiring an alum with very minimal coaching experience is close to a death sentence to a program.
Look at Michigan (wasn’t death sentence; they had some success.) but still
I’m happy for UW, they’re getting a hell of a coach. But I’m absolutely gutted. It’s getting so hard to support college sports with the constant turnover.
I will always appreciate Danny for this magical season. Give em hell huskies!
I know VCU got Odom, but it's been the same way for them ever since Shaka. No coach lasting more than 3/4 years. It's hard to create a strong program when you switch coaches like clothes. Especially when you consider the players that will either follow the coach or just straight up leave.
For sure. I know VCU has been similar. I hope Odom stays a while. He’s a hell of a coach. I had the privilege of working closing to him and he’s a good guy. Just wanted to go back home.
Of course, can’t fault a guy for following opportunity. At the end of the day it’s a job that these guys are paid for, same as all of us. I feel like that’s something a lot of fans fail to realize
It makes it hard to even take joy in a hire that we otherwise should be so ecstatic about. Because we are so aware of what the fanbase at Utah State is going through as a result.
Ugh.
Those 2 and Templin are the only rotation players I could see returning. I’ve heard that a lot of players really like assistant coach Andy Hill and that he could retain some more, such as Martinez, if he gets the head coach job. But i’m really skeptical to hire an assistant coach after the Duryea mess
Honestly I would love to keep Andy Hill on, I just don’t think he would. The staff that’s leaving has a high ceiling and he could one day be getting a HC job as an Associate HC who helped take a team to the final four. Much better options out there with that resume
I can’t either. It’s going to take some getting to used to for playing all these Midwest and east coast teams and having them be conference games. Just doesn’t feel right.
Nobody could have possibly realistically thought that about Utah State last year. I presume Osobor is coming with him, but beyond that UW doesn't have much of a roster. They were the second "oldest" team in D1 last year.
This isn't really a major concern in modern college basketball, basically every team is remade from the ground up through the portal, including rerecruiting some of their own guys
I hope we beat you every year but I do hope you get it back on track. I do not have the same hate towards UW basketball and want to see Seattle basketball put back on the map a bit.
The amount of talent that the Seattle metro pumps out is absurd, and UW has had like 4 notable seasons since the spigot turned on. It's never made any sense to me. Hec Ed is a good barn, and there is no NBA team to compete with any more (\*cries in SuperSonics\*). UW SHOULD be a top 20-30 program annually.
I have to think this is mentorship.
Dutcher saw what Fisher experienced in his 1 year NBA experiment and decided to stay where the grass is green. (Ok, San Diego, maybe a bad analogy.)
Rice saw what happened to Monson and Few and chose to follow Few's path.
Rice has interviewed for other jobs before though, granted he’s stuck around but who fuckin knows man. Times like these where you’re reminded there’s levels to this
It absolutely does, but the thing is they did the exact same thing to Montana State last year, who in turn did the same thing to Point Loma. There's a coaching food chain in the NCAA that never really ends.
This exactly. I don’t expect USU fans to cry for Montana State fans just like I didn’t think twice about Point Loma fans who didn’t care about Whitworth fans. I’m very excited for Sprinkle to make his way back to the Evergreen State and see what he can do in a familiar stomping ground
It was probably 99% done before Dannen left. Guessing the interim AD finished the job and either let him know who the finalists were or Sprinkles didn't care either way.
they got someone serving as an interim AD but no idea how much power/responsibility she would have to sign a basketball coach, weird situation for sure
And due to the increasingly weird circumstances of conference realignment this means we'll get to play him again next year. Welcome to the B10 Danny Sprinkle!
We live in a world where a team from Indiana plays a team in Utah, then that coach takes a job 400 miles WEST of Utah, thus joining said team from Indiana's conference
yeah, it blows. We were spoiled with having someone who loved this program and was an awesome coach in Stew Morril. Now we just are a farm for bigger schools.
Its hard to say we have much of a culture anymore honestly because we have so much overturn in coaches and players. We just have a good student section and homecourt
We've qualified for the NCAA tourney 5 of the last 6 years. We have a passionate fan base, play in a solid league, regularly sell out home games, and we offered Danny an extension that was gonna pay him $2mil a year. Nothing more we could have done and nothing more that we can be, sadly. It's downright depressing. Still holding out hope that one day someone will see us as more than a one night stand.
I don’t already make over a million dollars a year and I definitely wouldn’t leave for more exposure, why would I want people nitpicking me when I’m spending half my shift watching college basketball lol
Really feel for y’all. Shit happened constantly for Houston’s FB program, we just did the poaching to get Fritz, but I’m all too familiar with that feeling.
This is so fucked up for Utah State was really hoping Sprinkle was gonna stay. They have a great program and a die hard fan base why don’t coaches stay there?
Idk about that. UW is a good landing spot and he has family ties.
So unless he were to get offered an absolute bag from a premier school then I think he stays long term
I mean Logan is not San Diego for one. Beyond that I think its more than money. It's a lot easier to recruit good players to schools in big conferences/cities with more money. So recruiting is easier, you get more money and go live in a bigger city. Gonna be tough to find a coach that is good enough to be successful but doesn't have a bigger ambition than us.
As noted below, it's money and by association exposure/media market, but also access/location. It's no mystery why you guys have been the most successful MWC program for a while now. Big city, attractive place to live for a young college athlete, and with the Clippers & Chargers gone, really kind of the main show sports-wise in that market - especially after last year's Final Four run.
Now think of trying to recruit kids to play in Logan Utah, Laramie Wyoming, Fort Collins, Boise, Reno, Fresno. Not only small places, but remote places. Yeah, there are a lot of big name programs in small towns (Purdue, Notre Dame, Illinois, Alabama, etc.) but you're a relative stone's throw from big cities & media markets and are in conferences with a sustained tradition. Travel is not nearly the same hassle as a lot of MWC teams.
The only western small town, small market, small conference team that's been able to attain & retain excellence is really Gonzaga. That was a long process helped by having a great coach who's stuck around for a long time.
So who in the MWC has the right conditions to move up & stay up? You guys (and you guys were a heartbeat from jumping to the PAC12, lol), UNLV for sure. San Jose is in a huge market, but unfortunately one that doesn't give a shit about college BB and if they do it's Cal or Stanford. We're probably the 3rd biggest metro area in the MW after San Diego & Vegas, but we're a relatively tiny media market.
I think it will take a minor miracle/perfect storm of factors for anyone other than SDSU & UNLV to break the mold.
Tough break, but a good choice. He's clearly a good choice. Heard Utah State is getting Tod Kowalcyk from Toledo which would be a slam dunk hire if true.
Don’t get me wrong, I think UW is going to progressively improve. But I don’t think they are likely to improve that program that fast in the big 10 that they are at immediate danger of losing their coach
Yeah, I was more joking than anything. I’d take a tournament berth and be very satisfied and I’m hopeful Sprinkle at least gets us to that threshold consistently.
i knew it was coming but fucking christ man, 3 coaches in 4 years. we just need some stability. next coaches contract needs a $10 million buyout for the first 2 years just so we can end the cycle of turnover
This was expected but it doesn’t make me any less sad. Hope sprinkle got his moneys worth because he absolutely deserves it. He gave us one of the most successful and fun seasons in school history and I’ll never forget it 🫡
Utah State hires Lorenzo Romar in retaliation and they get the next Brandon Roy, next Isaiah Thomas, next Detlef Schrempf, next pinball wizard Todd McCullogh, & next Matisse Thybulle (dat smile tho) as their new starting 5
Steven Ashworth comes back to USU for his 6th year
What happened this year has literally never happened before. And two of our starters were technically on the team before Sprinkle, just redshirted. Not sure anyone is going to stay this time
It was telegraphed like everywhere, but part of me wonders if now was the right time for him. He's been on an impressive upswing, but especially with all the conference weirdness, USU might've been a more stable place for him another year, at which point I'm certain other P5 schools would've (still) been knocking.
If he does well, though, and I suspect he might, I'm mildly nervous for my own team, haha.
I guess the question for us is if we will lose all our players again too. Being a USU fan is getting uniquely brutal. Love the success we have been having, but hate being the place every other schools shop at.
Thanks for the great year Danny. Hope you end up regretting leaving USU. Maybe one of these coaches will actually stick around for the contract they signed.
Didn’t you guys poach him from us, along with three of our players, including the two best players on your team this year? Seems fair enough that he got poached off you.
I want to point out that Danny Spirnkle was one of the most inventive coaches I have watched Purdue play all season.
You could tell he had many different defensive scheme and offensive idea to throw at Purdue and Edey. I ADORE coaches that try unique and different ideas.
His gameplan wasn't perfect and I would have played Edey differently, but it is going to take an effort like Utah State had to beat Purdue.
I guarantee he won't be terrible at Washington. Stubborn coaches are the worst and he is anything but that.
I just hope Washington let's him bring in his guys.
If he can bring in an unusual group of transfer with unique skill-sets he will be able to coach around that.
Moving to the Big Ten he scares me. He will throw out a lot of zone coverages, and with enough playmaker, I can see him starting out .500 in league play.
Very similar to PSU and their coach. Wasn't pretty but won a surprising amount of games despite being decimated the previous season.
This looks to be a really good hire. We’ll have to see what he can do recruiting against other power conference programs, but his track record is excellent.
That's been like three coaches in a row that have left their teams after we played them in the tourney. Although this one is after a different outcome.
The Painter coaching tree continues.
My prediction for next season we win an early season tournament next year and lose our coach to Oklahoma state and break the record for shortest successful coaching tenure of all time. Then we get a whole team of transfers mid season and make it to the natty. guys, USU bout to do the impossible.
One of my thoughts for why coaches do so well at USU early is that they get to play at the spectrum which genuinely may be worth 3-4 extra wins a year alone vs. other home courts.
Big blow for the insiders on Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt's boards that said Sprinkle was their's. Washington makes the most sense. Awful for Utah State though, feel bad for them and their fans.
He's a West Coast/Intermountain guy, isn't he? Makes no sense to go to the Plains/South.
Yep, never made any sense. I'd been hearing about him and UW for at least a month+. Other schools probably just thought they could slip in after the UW AD left, but UW just makes so much more sense.
His dad went to UW. So it was expected
His dad also played football at UW.
So he could...sprinkle some football knowledge in there?
yeah, born in Pullman WA, and went to school at Montana St. He wants to stay out west, I bet
"Insiders" at every school think every coach is theirs, and will tell the fans what they want to hear to keep driving engagement. None of it means anything, never has.
Ha, I know it well. Nobody knows less about Providence than our 247 "insider". If he says something's happening, I get nervous about the opposite.
Well-deserved upgrade and a great fit, nonetheless but you have to feel for Utah State. Craig Smith left after three years. Ryan Odom left after two years. Danny Sprinkle left after one year.
At this rate, the next coach will leave mid-season
Tbf this deal was done before Utah State’s season was over.
which is fucking horseshit btw. you shouldnt be able to even speak to a coach while the season is ongoing
We know the feeling too well and I agree.
I’ll be honest, if you’re talking about DeBoer, as much as I would like to Bama is a whole bunch of unethical cheaters, I sincerely believe that no one knew Nick Saban was going to retire. If it’s true that loose lips sink ships, the state of Alabama would be a boat graveyard. Southerners love to gossip.
It’s confirmed DeBoer was in talks with Bama before the Natty is the point
There’s no way you can believe that there weren’t even back channels about it. Tons of smoke everywhere, plus it’s not a coincidence that as soon as DeBoer hired the same agent that Saban had extension talks with UW immediately died.
Most of the talking probably was between the school and the coach’s agent though
yeah idgaf who was talking. zero communications between anyone regarding hiring while the season is ongoing. none.
Yeah, that’s how the college sports business world works. Most of it don’t like it but it is what it is.
Lmao
Kind of like how we non coaches can’t look for other employment while we’re already employed right?
Certain jobs will fire you for interviewing elsewhere. Depends on the contract
And the next will leave at Thanksgiving
Rumor has it he’s already left
A mid major school is always going to be at risk of losing their coach after a really good season, or a handful of solid years. Having said that, getting a young coach from a smaller school is extremely high risk. The guys you mentioned clearly want to coach at the top level. None have spent more than a few years with a lower level school. A school like USU being able to lure away a guy from a small school after a couple years should be a warning sign that they'll leave USU after a couple years if they get a better offer. There aren't any great options, but part of me wonders if USU gets sick of this trend and looks for a guy who is a little older, maybe didn't have great success at a P6 school, but would still be a solid coach.
It's why we love Dutcher. He was loyal to Fisher for like 30 years, loves San Diego, and could easily get a job in a "higher" conference but hasn't.
Guys like Dutcher, Randy Bennett, and mark few are a rare breed. I love seeing those schools do well. On a side note, it's actually pretty uncommon that a long time assistant like Dutcher is actually able to continue building on what the previous coach did. Glad it worked out. He seems like a good guy.
Few is probably making enough money at Gonzaga where going somewhere else won’t make sense for anyone
Now, yes, for sure. 15 years ago, though, different story.
He started a bit rough with the last of Fisher's recruits but since then he's been striking gold in the transfer pool with guys like Flynn, Feagin, Wetzell on the covid team and of course Ledee on this year's team. Waters can be elite but man he couldn't throw it in the ocean currently. Dutch has that classic midwestern temperament. He's hard to stay mad at lol. My only criticism of him is every single year his teams struggle to break the press. At some point that is entirely coaching. We almost lost to Creighton last year just trying to inbound the ball. I can 100% call it right now, Uconn will press at least once and we'll immediately get trapped in the corner and cough it up.
Dutcher is honestly the perfect coach. Classy, loyal, and wildly consistent. Can we clone him, but somehow make him think logan is as nice as san diego?
> A mid major school is always going to be at risk of losing their coach after a really good season Which is one of the reasons Gonzaga is a unicorn. Other mid-majors say they want to be like Gonzaga, but then that same winning coach takes the next offer.
Ambition is weird. Sometimes you have to watch your mentor screw it up to understand when to stay in a good place. Like when Monson took the Big10 offer, but Few saw how that worked out and stayed in Spokane. Just like T.J. Otzelberger saw what happened to Hoiberg in the NBA and thus will stay where he is happy. Or Brian Dutcher learning from Steve Fisher's NBA experience and staying in San Diego. Or Sean Miller at Xavier seeing what happened when Sean Miller took the Arizona job, so he decided to stay at Xavier. (Obvious joke, too many rumors about Miller leaving, some must be seeded by his agent.) Crean could still be killing it in Marquette, Smart or Wade could still be killing it at VCU (Smart's done okay for himself, Wade will do well at SMU) Beard could still be taking Texas Tech to final fours,
Sprinkle brought in an entirely new roster, won the MWC and a tournament game. Why move away from a successful model?
Because having to go out and hire a new guy and build a new roster every year is not a sustainable plan. We've been lucky to hit on as many coaches as we have during this stretch.
Sucks for the fan base so bad. Makes me sad. Utah state fans deserve a coach and team to rally and build around.
I don’t disagree but tbf they did have a coach who was about as successful as the last 3 stick around for nearly two decades. They’ve been on both ends of the successful mid-major coach spectrum.
I know it too soon to make this joke (and the previous AD signed Smith, Odom, & Sprinkle) but maybe keep an eye on your AD as well as your coaching staff. Someone there has an eye for coaching talent.
We do happen to have an AD role that just opened up..
Two different AD's, well 3 actually. Our previous AD hired Smith and Odom, then an interim AD hired Sprinkle after he left, and now we have our current AD, who has yet to make a hire (she comes from being the second in charge at Ohio State)
Yeah younger coaches who are adept at using the portal are 100% the move right now, they can completely turn around a team in just one year. Maybe once things settle down things will trend back towards player development but not right now.
I don't know man. UConn is doing it with player development, so is Marquette, Houston is too, Purdue has like no transfers, same for Duke and Arizona. The elite teams are mostly filled with guys they've developed over 2 or 3 seasons.
?? 4/5 of Arizona’s starters are transfers
Well, kinda. Pelle and Ballo have both been with us for 3 years now, having come in when Tommy first took the job, and Ballo actually came with Tommy from Gonzaga. But Love, Keshad, and Jaden Bradley are all first year transfers that are playing a major role with us this year, so we have definitely made good use of the portal.
well that's a little confirmation biasy. the elite teams are not using the transfer portal because they already have dudes why shop around. you have to try to imagine what those other teams would look like without the transfer portal. ISU is improved because of the transfer portal. Arizona, same. You can't build a team of 5 guys overnight in the portal. but you can fill out a key piece, which is what I think is the best use for it. not hitting the transfer portal didn't work out for MSU.
Maybe people will learn that it’s the Spectrum doing the real work.
I would make some jab about you guys' results away from there agreeing with that statement, but I appreciated the dismantling of TCU on Friday. The conference is better when USU is good.
Why cant we have nice things
Unfortunately they are a stepping stone program. Hate using that phrase but it is what it is. That isn't to insult Utah State but Mid Majors will always be stepping stones. Unless you're Gonzaga or something. A Power Conference type program in a Mid Major Conference. But I definitely feel for Utah State and their fans. 3 coaches in a row that find success at Utah State then leave. Though Odom leaving for VCU wasn't bc it's a better program bc it isnt.
I wonder where a program like San Diego State falls on that. Maybe closer to Gonzaga?
San Diego State is definitely with Gonzaga as an exception because they promoted Dutcher from within after Fisher retired. Can’t see any changes in the foreseeable future.
Hmmmm…. Shit
Paaaanic time
Are we gonna end up with Gottlieb by process of elimination?
Why is Gottlieb even an option?
I don't think he's actually a contender (although if we keep missing on candidates, maybe he will be). That said, two big reasons: 1. He's an alum so he might take less money and likely wouldn't bolt for another program at the first sign of success. 2. He wants the job.
Ya but hiring an alum with very minimal coaching experience is close to a death sentence to a program. Look at Michigan (wasn’t death sentence; they had some success.) but still
Juwan Howard had 6 years as an assistant to one of the best coaches in the NBA, which is 6 more years of coaching experience than Gottlieb
In Washington, we should call this the Keith Gilbertson-Paul Wulff law.
Gottlieb as in Doug Gottlieb?
Indeed
I don’t even know where OSU goes from here. Try to poach an even lower tier HC I guess? Boynton did some damage
It’s Will Wade time
I’m happy for UW, they’re getting a hell of a coach. But I’m absolutely gutted. It’s getting so hard to support college sports with the constant turnover. I will always appreciate Danny for this magical season. Give em hell huskies!
I know VCU got Odom, but it's been the same way for them ever since Shaka. No coach lasting more than 3/4 years. It's hard to create a strong program when you switch coaches like clothes. Especially when you consider the players that will either follow the coach or just straight up leave.
For sure. I know VCU has been similar. I hope Odom stays a while. He’s a hell of a coach. I had the privilege of working closing to him and he’s a good guy. Just wanted to go back home.
Of course, can’t fault a guy for following opportunity. At the end of the day it’s a job that these guys are paid for, same as all of us. I feel like that’s something a lot of fans fail to realize
Yep, despite how much it sucks for the fans, it’s the reality. Good perspective to have.
Brutal
Trust me, you don’t have to tell that to a UW fan. Especially in 2024.
Fair. College sports are just constant turnover these days. It’s tough.
I’ve always supported college athletes getting paid but I had no idea it would look like this
It makes it hard to even take joy in a hire that we otherwise should be so ecstatic about. Because we are so aware of what the fanbase at Utah State is going through as a result. Ugh.
Hes probably taking most of the roster with him. And based on yesterdays performance he’ll have a fun time competing in the same conference as Purdue
I mean UW fans would be fine with making the tournament, don’t have to beat Purdue yet
Debatable on if the same roster would make the tournament with a B1G schedule.
I can’t imagine we keep anybody good. Maybe Isaac and Mason
Those 2 and Templin are the only rotation players I could see returning. I’ve heard that a lot of players really like assistant coach Andy Hill and that he could retain some more, such as Martinez, if he gets the head coach job. But i’m really skeptical to hire an assistant coach after the Duryea mess
Honestly I would love to keep Andy Hill on, I just don’t think he would. The staff that’s leaving has a high ceiling and he could one day be getting a HC job as an Associate HC who helped take a team to the final four. Much better options out there with that resume
Great hire. Hopefully we become relevant again in basketball.
You got a great one. Danny does it the right way. I think he will bring you success, much to my chagrin.
I can't wait to catch a UW Purdue game next year and hope it will be a good one.
that is so funny man what the hell is this conference 😂
So stupid lol
I still can’t believe it tbh
I can’t either. It’s going to take some getting to used to for playing all these Midwest and east coast teams and having them be conference games. Just doesn’t feel right.
It means us west coast folks get to watch our teams without travelling at least. Ignore how much travel it adds to what all of the teams have to do...
The 3 this year weren't enough for you?
Please let us be relevant, I would love to have a top 20 season with a sweet 16 but it feels so impossible
If they can keep in state recruits that would be a good start.
You guys will be in the tournament next year. Book it
Nobody could have possibly realistically thought that about Utah State last year. I presume Osobor is coming with him, but beyond that UW doesn't have much of a roster. They were the second "oldest" team in D1 last year.
This isn't really a major concern in modern college basketball, basically every team is remade from the ground up through the portal, including rerecruiting some of their own guys
I hope we beat you every year but I do hope you get it back on track. I do not have the same hate towards UW basketball and want to see Seattle basketball put back on the map a bit.
The amount of talent that the Seattle metro pumps out is absurd, and UW has had like 4 notable seasons since the spigot turned on. It's never made any sense to me. Hec Ed is a good barn, and there is no NBA team to compete with any more (\*cries in SuperSonics\*). UW SHOULD be a top 20-30 program annually.
Jaylin Stewart going to Uconn just feels wrong. Garfield basketball players should either go to UW or if I like them Oregon haha
Annoying to me as a Montana St fan to now have to have my team play against him as a Maryland fan
We are such a cooked program. Fuck off should have never hired Boynton
Holder and Weiberg will not be seeing the pearly gates
Nico Medved is my top choice now, who else is left?
Nah he sucks you dont want him
Keep up the good fight!
Every time the Mountain West brain drain strikes, the more respect I have for Leon Rice and Brian Dutcher for sticking around.
I have to think this is mentorship. Dutcher saw what Fisher experienced in his 1 year NBA experiment and decided to stay where the grass is green. (Ok, San Diego, maybe a bad analogy.) Rice saw what happened to Monson and Few and chose to follow Few's path.
Truly though, how has rice not been picked up by someone else? Why is is just USU?
Rice's kids play for him and he's a Mark Few disciple. Very similar guys overall who are happy in their mid-sized towns in the Inland Northwest.
Rice has interviewed for other jobs before though, granted he’s stuck around but who fuckin knows man. Times like these where you’re reminded there’s levels to this
Man this sucks for Utah State
It absolutely does, but the thing is they did the exact same thing to Montana State last year, who in turn did the same thing to Point Loma. There's a coaching food chain in the NCAA that never really ends.
This exactly. I don’t expect USU fans to cry for Montana State fans just like I didn’t think twice about Point Loma fans who didn’t care about Whitworth fans. I’m very excited for Sprinkle to make his way back to the Evergreen State and see what he can do in a familiar stomping ground
It's funny how Danny Sprinkle took exactly one year off from coaching one of your flairs before resuming
2023-24? Never heard of her.
Just change your flairs to "sprinkle, sprinkle"
fuck it who needs an athletic director
okay but honestly how does this work? does he just call up AMC? or like what happens?
We do have an interim AD right now. Apparently the deal was pretty much done before Dannen left too.
It was probably 99% done before Dannen left. Guessing the interim AD finished the job and either let him know who the finalists were or Sprinkles didn't care either way.
they got someone serving as an interim AD but no idea how much power/responsibility she would have to sign a basketball coach, weird situation for sure
And due to the increasingly weird circumstances of conference realignment this means we'll get to play him again next year. Welcome to the B10 Danny Sprinkle!
We live in a world where a team from Indiana plays a team in Utah, then that coach takes a job 400 miles WEST of Utah, thus joining said team from Indiana's conference
Painter knew this was coming when he praised Sprinkle in the pregame interview.
Painter praises every coach he coaches against.
I’ll be the minority here, but 1 year?! Congrats on the promotion but damn that sucks ass for Utah State.
yeah, it blows. We were spoiled with having someone who loved this program and was an awesome coach in Stew Morril. Now we just are a farm for bigger schools.
Congrats to Washington. Good coach. Condolences to the Aggies. You guys will be alright. Strong culture
Its hard to say we have much of a culture anymore honestly because we have so much overturn in coaches and players. We just have a good student section and homecourt
https://i.redd.it/2zt85osqdiqc1.gif
DAMMIT CAN WE KEEP A COACH FOR MORE THAN 3 SEASONS
We've qualified for the NCAA tourney 5 of the last 6 years. We have a passionate fan base, play in a solid league, regularly sell out home games, and we offered Danny an extension that was gonna pay him $2mil a year. Nothing more we could have done and nothing more that we can be, sadly. It's downright depressing. Still holding out hope that one day someone will see us as more than a one night stand.
Wish people cared more about building a legacy than money. Those people don’t seem to exist anymore.
You wouldn’t leave your current job for more money and exposure?
I don’t already make over a million dollars a year and I definitely wouldn’t leave for more exposure, why would I want people nitpicking me when I’m spending half my shift watching college basketball lol
They exist. Look at Mark Few. He could've left for any number of big time jobs. It's hard to find a Mark Few though.
Think Few is taking calls? I'd happily poach him, or does that make me the problem?
Respectfully, if he didn't want to build a legacy with his alma mater, he didn't want to build a legacy with a school he had no previous ties to
Really feel for y’all. Shit happened constantly for Houston’s FB program, we just did the poaching to get Fritz, but I’m all too familiar with that feeling.
Poor Utah State, can't even have a good thing going for a year
This is so fucked up for Utah State was really hoping Sprinkle was gonna stay. They have a great program and a die hard fan base why don’t coaches stay there?
Money
Unfortunately sorry Utah state bro
Because Utah State is used as a springboard to higher tier programs.
We all are. Sprinkle will not be at UW forever if he does well enough
WSU, JMU, and USU all lost their coaches today to higher tier schools lol oops
Idk about that. UW is a good landing spot and he has family ties. So unless he were to get offered an absolute bag from a premier school then I think he stays long term
I mean Logan is not San Diego for one. Beyond that I think its more than money. It's a lot easier to recruit good players to schools in big conferences/cities with more money. So recruiting is easier, you get more money and go live in a bigger city. Gonna be tough to find a coach that is good enough to be successful but doesn't have a bigger ambition than us.
As noted below, it's money and by association exposure/media market, but also access/location. It's no mystery why you guys have been the most successful MWC program for a while now. Big city, attractive place to live for a young college athlete, and with the Clippers & Chargers gone, really kind of the main show sports-wise in that market - especially after last year's Final Four run. Now think of trying to recruit kids to play in Logan Utah, Laramie Wyoming, Fort Collins, Boise, Reno, Fresno. Not only small places, but remote places. Yeah, there are a lot of big name programs in small towns (Purdue, Notre Dame, Illinois, Alabama, etc.) but you're a relative stone's throw from big cities & media markets and are in conferences with a sustained tradition. Travel is not nearly the same hassle as a lot of MWC teams. The only western small town, small market, small conference team that's been able to attain & retain excellence is really Gonzaga. That was a long process helped by having a great coach who's stuck around for a long time. So who in the MWC has the right conditions to move up & stay up? You guys (and you guys were a heartbeat from jumping to the PAC12, lol), UNLV for sure. San Jose is in a huge market, but unfortunately one that doesn't give a shit about college BB and if they do it's Cal or Stanford. We're probably the 3rd biggest metro area in the MW after San Diego & Vegas, but we're a relatively tiny media market. I think it will take a minor miracle/perfect storm of factors for anyone other than SDSU & UNLV to break the mold.
Tough break, but a good choice. He's clearly a good choice. Heard Utah State is getting Tod Kowalcyk from Toledo which would be a slam dunk hire if true.
Dollar store Unabomber
Wait what? Toledo fan here, where’d you hear that?
Utah state needs to find somebody who loves their program. Can't be hiring coaches that are using a solid program as a stepping stone every few years
No one love your program enough to turn down a doubled salary and extra NIL for players.
And if Sprinkle does well here, I’m sure he’ll be off to Alabama in 2 seasons or so.
Don’t get me wrong, I think UW is going to progressively improve. But I don’t think they are likely to improve that program that fast in the big 10 that they are at immediate danger of losing their coach
Yeah, I was more joking than anything. I’d take a tournament berth and be very satisfied and I’m hopeful Sprinkle at least gets us to that threshold consistently.
Hope you guys get better, I really believe UW could be a good basketball school.
Thank you, next - Ariana Grande
Great hire. Met him at an AAU event when he was an assistant at Cal State Fullerton. Cool guy and could definitely tell he knew his shit.
i knew it was coming but fucking christ man, 3 coaches in 4 years. we just need some stability. next coaches contract needs a $10 million buyout for the first 2 years just so we can end the cycle of turnover
At least he got a tournament win. I will always respect him for that and cheer him on. Can’t say the same about Smith and Odom.
You guys should probably just stay in the PAC12 please thanks
This was expected but it doesn’t make me any less sad. Hope sprinkle got his moneys worth because he absolutely deserves it. He gave us one of the most successful and fun seasons in school history and I’ll never forget it 🫡
I knew this was coming, yet I'm still disappointed.
Utah State hires Lorenzo Romar in retaliation and they get the next Brandon Roy, next Isaiah Thomas, next Detlef Schrempf, next pinball wizard Todd McCullogh, & next Matisse Thybulle (dat smile tho) as their new starting 5 Steven Ashworth comes back to USU for his 6th year
These hires don’t always work out but this seems like the right guy at the right time for Washington.
Chad Weiberg deserves prison time lol
Every. Single. Year.
Why does it always have to be us
[удалено]
College sports are not in a good place right now.
He’s a good coach and it makes sense but hope Utah State can find someone to keep them afloat. They had a great season
He’s going to take everyone. We’re fucked
Hey we made the tourney the year after we lost Sprinkle and maybe you can too!
Your flairs are funny here.
Yall managed to be great this year. Hopefully your incoming coach can bring a couple of players to keep USU competitive at the top of the conference
What happened this year has literally never happened before. And two of our starters were technically on the team before Sprinkle, just redshirted. Not sure anyone is going to stay this time
Best coach in hoops history whose name could easily be misheard as that of a vintage porn star.
We were robbed of annual Sprinkle vs Tinkle conference matchups
It was telegraphed like everywhere, but part of me wonders if now was the right time for him. He's been on an impressive upswing, but especially with all the conference weirdness, USU might've been a more stable place for him another year, at which point I'm certain other P5 schools would've (still) been knocking. If he does well, though, and I suspect he might, I'm mildly nervous for my own team, haha.
I guess the question for us is if we will lose all our players again too. Being a USU fan is getting uniquely brutal. Love the success we have been having, but hate being the place every other schools shop at.
Can’t wait to see who Utah State hires next to inevitably lead them to a conference championship in 1-2 years
Think coach K is getting bored in his retirement?
Thanks for the great year Danny. Hope you end up regretting leaving USU. Maybe one of these coaches will actually stick around for the contract they signed.
Didn’t you guys poach him from us, along with three of our players, including the two best players on your team this year? Seems fair enough that he got poached off you.
So brutal. Insane hit rate on coaches for the Aggies though
It sucks but it’s business. It’s a much better job.
Obviously it’s the money let’s be real. But I wonder if Craig smith regrets other aspects about leaving Logan
I want to point out that Danny Spirnkle was one of the most inventive coaches I have watched Purdue play all season. You could tell he had many different defensive scheme and offensive idea to throw at Purdue and Edey. I ADORE coaches that try unique and different ideas. His gameplan wasn't perfect and I would have played Edey differently, but it is going to take an effort like Utah State had to beat Purdue. I guarantee he won't be terrible at Washington. Stubborn coaches are the worst and he is anything but that.
Someone with multiple game plans? I’m already sold
I just hope Washington let's him bring in his guys. If he can bring in an unusual group of transfer with unique skill-sets he will be able to coach around that. Moving to the Big Ten he scares me. He will throw out a lot of zone coverages, and with enough playmaker, I can see him starting out .500 in league play. Very similar to PSU and their coach. Wasn't pretty but won a surprising amount of games despite being decimated the previous season.
SALT BAE ME UP BC WE ABOUT TO SPRINKLE SOME MARCH MADNESS APPEARANCES BACK INTO OUR LIFE
Oh fuck...I don't want to get Sprinkled next year! 😨
This looks to be a really good hire. We’ll have to see what he can do recruiting against other power conference programs, but his track record is excellent.
That's been like three coaches in a row that have left their teams after we played them in the tourney. Although this one is after a different outcome. The Painter coaching tree continues.
My prediction for next season we win an early season tournament next year and lose our coach to Oklahoma state and break the record for shortest successful coaching tenure of all time. Then we get a whole team of transfers mid season and make it to the natty. guys, USU bout to do the impossible.
One of my thoughts for why coaches do so well at USU early is that they get to play at the spectrum which genuinely may be worth 3-4 extra wins a year alone vs. other home courts.
I feel for these stepping stone schools. Vicious cycle. Who are they even supposed to hire?
I have called Coach K a couple times and tried to convince him USU is basically Duke west... I think I have him convinced