2026 B1G Basketball Previews: Washington

Last Season

Well, not wonderful. The first season of Danny "Mister" Sprinkle saw some hope as he had a good season at Utah State and they shelled out a bunch of cash for Great Osobor. The Big Ten stuffed both of them into a locker, and they finished just 4-16 in conference and missed the BTT.

Defectors

• The eligibility bell has run for Great Osobor, who has found life in the German Basketball League. Achtung!
• Outgoing seniors also include D.J. Davis, Wilhelm Breidenbach, Luis Kortright, and Tyree Ihenacho
• The portal has claimed Mekhi Mason (Wake Forest), Tyler Harris (Vanderbilt), Christian King (Montana State), K.C. Ibekwe (Pacific), and Jase Butler (Colorado State)
• The player who never was. Dominique Diomande redshirted as a freshman last season and then transferred to BYU

Starters

• PG Zoom Diallo, 6'4'' Sophomore: The Huskies have a mess of playmaking guards this year, and so you might throw out the traditional point. Zoom played a ton last year as a freshman, but considering he shot 18% from three, I could not in good conscience call him a shooting guard.
• SG Desmond Claude, 6'5'' Senior: Some B1G crime, as Claude comes over from USC after two seasons at Xavier. He led the Trojans in points and assists last year, so he will be comfortable running the offense. He's never been a great outside shooter, either, so Mr. Sprinkle might have to be judicious with his lineups.
• SF Wesley Yates, 6'4'' Sophomore: Another poach from USC, sort of. Yates actually started his career at Washington, but didn't play his first year due to injury and then split to USC. He was great last season and showed some real scoring chops. He does have a great stroke from outside (44%) and is much more of a pure scorer compared to the other two.
• PF Hannes Steinbach, 6'9'' Freshman: Achtung baby. Great Osobor went to Germany, and Steinbach comes from Germany. He's from Wurzburg, the same town as Dirk Nowitski. Plus Detlef Schrempf played for Washington, so the Huskies might have something here.
• C Frank Kepnang, 6'11'' Senior: After another season defined by injuries, the eligibility gods granted Kepnang a sixth season to stand under the basket and intimidate anyone who comes near.

Bench

• PG Quimari Peterson, 6'1'' Senior: Another option at point would be East Tennessee State transfer Peterson. He led the Buccaneers in points, steals, and assists. He took and made a lot of shots, especially from three, so he should be another option unless the B1G kicks him into the ocean.
• C Lathan Sommerville, 6'10'' Sophomore: More B1G crime, as Sommerville comes over from Rutgers. He didn't show a ton of rebounding or blocks, but he was fairly efficient around the basket and was surprisingly great from the stripe. Get fouled and make shots still works.
• SF Jacob Ognacevic, 6'7'' Senior: Ognacevic comes in as a fifth year senior from Lipscomb. The former Atlantic Sun Player of the Year looked in line to start, but he suffered a foot injury and may not appear for a few months.
• C Mady Traore, 6'10 Junior: Speaking of injuries, Traore will miss the season with one, but might as well be complete about the roster.
• SF Bryson Tucker, 6'6'' Sophomore: The former McDonalds All-American comes over after one season in Indiana. The offensive talent is there, but he was real bad for the Hoosiers last season, so we'll see if being closer to Starbucks can help his game.
• PF Christian Nitu, 6'11'' Sophomore: Why does it feel like the Huskies have ten million players? Anyway, Nitu comes over after a year at Florida State, where he barely played as a freshman.
• Besides Steinbach, the Huskies also have three freshmen in PG J.J. Mandaquit, SF Jasir Rencher, and SG Courtland Muldrew. All of them are four star types, though they might have to wait for minutes given the Huskies' depth.

Outlook

This should be a fun team to watch. Mr. Sprinkle has promised more tempo and with a fleet of guards who can get up and down the court, we can see it happening. The frontcourt is a little thin, especially since Kepnang gets hurt every year. Still, if the guy can stay upright and mobile, this team can be good.

Torvik projects them to go 17-13 and 9-11 in conference. If they can steal a couple games, an NCAA tourney bid wouldn't be out of the question.