DANNY SPRINKLE | HEAD COACH
Danny Sprinkle was named Washington’s head men’s basketball coach on Mar. 25, 2024. Sprinkle is 109-50 (.686) in four years as a head coach and has 24 years of collegiate coaching experience.
Sprinkle comes to Montlake after guiding #20 Utah State to a Mountain West regular-season title and NCAA Tournament at-large appearance in his first season with the Aggies. He was named Steve Fisher Mountain West Coach of the Year in addition to being selected as a finalist for the 2023-24 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year award and a semifinalist for the 2024 Werner Ladder Naismith Men's Coach of the Year.
Sprinkle has injected winning into each program he’s coached. Taking over a Utah State program that returned just nine minutes and zero points from the previous season, Sprinkle guided the Aggies to their first NCAA Tournament win since 2001, snapping a ten-game tournament losing streak. He took a team that was predicted to finish ninth in the Mountain West and proceeded to win the program's first ever outright Mountain West regular season title.
In his one season in Logan, Sprinkle led the Aggies to an impressive 28-7 record, including 14-4 in conference play, winning the regular season championship. Utah State received an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament and won its first tournament game since 2001, defeating TCU on Friday. Four Aggies combined to take in seven all-conference honors under Sprinkle’s tutelage, headlined by Mountain West Player and Newcomer of the Year, Great Osobor, and Sixth Man of the Year, Josh Uduje.
Before taking over at Utah State, Sprinkle spent four years as the head coach at Montana State, leading the Bobcats to an 81-43 (.653) record, including 49-23 (.681) in the Big Sky Conference. He led MSU to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2022 and 2023. The Bobcats were the regular season Big Sky Champions in 2022 and won the Big Sky Tournament in both the 2022 and 2023 campaigns. Before Sprinkle took over, the Bobcats had not appeared in the NCAA Tournament since 1996. MSU appeared in three-straight conference championship games for the first time in school history and had consecutive 25-win seasons for the first time since 1927-29.
Sprinkle led Montana State to a 25-10 overall record and its second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022-23. Three Bobcats earned all-conference honors, while two players garnered individual accolades (Defensive Player of the Year and Top Reserve). Two Montana State players earned all-tournament honors, including Big Sky Tournament MVP RaeQuan Battle.
In 2021-22, Montana State wrapped up a 27-8 overall record and advanced to its first NCAA Tournament in 26 years after winning both the Big Sky regular season and tournament championships. The 27 victories were the most for the program since 1929. Sprinkle was honored for his 2021-22 squad’s achievements by being named the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year. He also was named a Hugh Durham Award finalist, presented annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball. The Bobcats had three players selected to all-Big Sky Conference teams, which were the most for the team since 2006.
Sprinkle became the first Montana State head coach to lead the program to the Big Sky Championship game during his first two seasons at the helm. He was named a finalist for the 2020 Joe B. Hall Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top first-year coach in Division I college basketball.
A Helena (Montana) High School graduate, Sprinkle’s coaching career began as a graduate assistant at Cal State Northridge in 2000-01. He spent five more seasons with the Matadors before spending two years in Bozeman as an assistant coach at Montana State. Sprinkle returned to CSUN for five more seasons as an assistant coach and then spent six seasons as an assistant at Cal State Fullerton.
Sprinkle added duties as recruiting coordinator at each of his coaching stops. He helped lead Cal State Fullerton to the NCAA Tournament in 2018 for just the third time in program history. He was also part of CSUN’s 2001 and 2009 NCAA Tournament teams, with the Matadors winning the Big Sky regular season crown in 2001 and the Big West title in 2009.
Sprinkle played his college basketball at Montana State and earned Big Sky Freshman of the Year honors in 1996. That same season he landed Big Sky All-Tournament honors for his 30-point performance in the championship game. He was all-league three consecutive seasons, including his first-team selection in 1997. He held the MSU career and season three-point records upon graduation and remains the ninth-leading scorer in school history with 1,497 points. Sprinkle was a member of the 1996 team inducted into the Montana State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006 and was formally inducted for his individual efforts in 2021.
He is the son of former UW football defensive back, Bill Sprinkle, who played for the Huskies from 1965-68.
Born in Pullman, Washington, Sprinkle enjoyed an outstanding career at Helena HS, which included earning all-state honors twice in basketball, while also competing in football and track. He graduated from Montana State in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in health and human development.
MEGAN BLACK | EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE HEAD COACH
Megan Black returns to Washington as the Executive Assistant to the Head Coach.
Black spent five seasons with the Huskies as a graduate assistant under Hopkins after serving as the head student manager. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in political economy from Washington in 2021 and completed her Master of Education in Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership in June 2022.
During the 2022-23 season, Black served as the Director of Operations for the University of Nebraska-Omaha women's basketball program and an Interim Assistant Coach in 2022.
During the 2022 WNBA season, Black worked with the Minnesota Lynx as a video associate. Working directly with the team's coaching staff, she created video scouts breaking down opposing teams' offense, defense, personnel, play calling, and other notable tendencies.
In 2020, Black built a nation-wide online learning community for college basketball student managers, called Grow the Game. She held weekly virtual learning sessions, which allowed student managers to develop relationships and advance in their basketball career. She helped the manager mentorship reach over 500 monthly participants and helped partner with the NABC, JustPlay, and HD Intelligence to host a networking event at the 2022 Final Four.
Black earned her Bachelor of Arts in political economy from Washington in 2021. She completed her Master of Education in Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership in June 2022.
NOAH RALBY | VIDEO & ANALYTICS COORDINATOR
Noah Ralby joined the Huskies as Video and Analytics Coordinator prior to the 2023-24 season. Ralby spent the previous two seasons on the Utah State men's basketball staff as the Director of Analytics. The Aggies reached the NCAA tournament in 2023 and the NIT the year prior while earning three All-Conference selections.
Prior to working with the Aggies, Ralby served as a graduate assistant at UMBC under Head Coach Ryan Odom for two seasons, where he helped guide the Retrievers to their second regular-season championship in school history in 2021.
Ralby graduated from Johns Hopkins with a bachelor’s degree in economics, helping the Blue Jays to a 71-32 mark and a Centennial Conference regular-season and tournament title in 2018. JHU advanced to the second round of the 2018 NCAA D-III Men's Basketball Tournament as Ralby earned NABC Honors Court accolades following the season. He later earned a master’s degree in entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership from UMBC.