The Washington Huskies Men’s Basketball Team Enters the 2025-26 Season with NCAA Tournament Aspirations
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Washington men's basketball center Franck Kepnang is one of just two returning Huskies for the 2025-26 season. Credit: Washington Athletics [/caption]
SEATTLE, Wash. — The ingredients appear superior, but can second-year Washington Huskies men’s basketball coach Danny Sprinkle cook up a trip to the NCAA Tournament?
The march toward big games in March begins with the season-opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which will tip off at 8 p.m. Monday at Hec Edmunson Pavilion. Sprinkle returns just two players from last season’s team that finished last in the Big Ten (13-18 overall, 4-16 conference). The 49-year-old head coach hit the transfer portal hard, though, welcoming in a mix of players from Power 4 schools and two smaller-conference players of the year to go along with a talented freshman class.
Sprinkle said on Wednesday that he’ll be substituting liberally early in the season to find the best combinations while getting maximum energy from players.
“If we can keep that pressure on Pine Bluff’s (big men), keep running at them, and playing as hard as we can, over time it wears you out,” Sprinkle said. “I saw it with our team last year. We didn’t have the depth in the post last year.”
That should look significantly different this season, as Washington appears to have brought in the size it lacked to compete during its first season in the Big Ten.
One of UW’s two returning players, center Franck Kepnang, will have considerably more help up front this year. The sixth-year senior, who played in just 14 games last year due to injury, will be joined by 6-11 freshman forward Hannes Steinbach, who led the Huskies with 24 points and 16 rebounds during an exhibition game against UNLV on Oct. 19. Steinbach, a Würzburg, Germany native who averaged 17.4 points and 13 rebounds during last summer’s FIBA U-19 World Cup, seems to have made a quick transition from international club basketball to the college game. He told the Emerald City Spectrum he’s bulked up to 248 pounds, and that he’s had to become a quick learner.
“I learned that you have to lock your scooter outside,” Steinbach quipped on Friday at UW’s new basketball facility. “That, I learned the hard way. But, other than that, it’s not too different.”
“In my club in Germany, there were people who are 30 years old. Of course they’re going to be way more experienced. So that’s kind of a different, but talent-wise, it’s almost the same.”
i mean is it even legal at the collegiate level lol pic.twitter.com/97BZXZ7hrV— Sheed on the Hawks (@SheedinATL) October 19, 2025
Christian Nitu, a transfer from Florida State, gives the Huskies yet another 6-11 option up front. Lathan Sommerville, at 6-10, would have been second-tallest behind Kepnang last season. The sophomore averaged 8.2 points and 4.1 points in 21 minutes per game for Rutgers last season. Bryson Tucker, a 6-8 sophomore transfer from Indiana, gives the Huskies some versatility up front. Jacob Ognacevic, who was the ASUN Player of the Year in 2025 after averaging 20.8 points per game for Lipscomb, will give the Huskies a sharp-shooter up front when the sixth-year senior returns from a leg injury in January.
Kepnang indicated that the team is learning to blend together after a full offseason of practices.
“We’ve been together for so long that we start to understand each other’s game,” said Kepnang, who would be eligible to play for a seventh season next year due to medical redshirts from injuries. “Now we’re getting to a point where we’re trying to make each other better — set up each other better for that shot to get the best look possible. Help each other. For me personally, it’s about getting guys open by setting good screens, by rebounding the ball and getting it to my point guard.”
One of the point guards that Kepnang will be aiming his outlet passes toward is freshman JJ Mandquit, a pass-first distributor who registered 12 assists against UNLV. He’ll battle for time and potentially share the court with senior Quimari Peterson, who hit 42% of his 3-point shots at East Tennessee State last season on his way to being named Southern Conference Player of the Year.
Washington’s other returning player, sophomore guard Zoom Diallo, will have some help in the backcourt this season. Wesley Yates III and Desmond Claude both joined the Huskies after playing for USC last season. Yates, a sophomore, was on the UW roster in 2023-24, but missed the season with an injury. The 6-4 shooting guard averaged 14.1 points for the Trojans last season, shooting 42.9 percent behind the arc. Claude, a senior, averaged 15.8 points for USC last season.
“It’s going to take a lot of sacrifice in order for us to win,” Sprinkle said. “Dez Claude averaged 16-17 a game last year. Wesley Yates averaged almost 15. Quimari averaged 18, Jacob averaged 18 — both were player of the year. There’s not enough balls to go around for all those guys to average those same stats.
“The only one who got to the NCAA Tournament last year was Jacob. So, now everybody’s goal should be to get the the NCAA Tournament. … All of us, we should have a chip on our shoulder to get to the NCAA Tournament — our staff, every single one of our players. That’s the main goal, and we’ve tried to hit that every day.”
