2025-26 Big Ten offseason at a glance: Washington Huskies

  • Jun 4, 2025 7:01 am
 

Welcome to “Big Ten offseason at a glance,” a team-by-team look at the conference at the start of the summer. We’ll examine roster movement for each Big Ten roster and give an early outlook for each Big Ten program for the 2025-26 season.

Previously: Rutgers, Penn State, Minnesota, Northwestern

Today: Washington (13-18 overall in 2024-25, 4-16 in Big Ten play)

Washington made headlines last offseason when signing Great Osobor to an NIL reportedly worth $2 million – one of the largest upfront commitments in the landscape at the time. Osobor followed head coach Danny Sprinkle from Utah State, but the Huskies flopped to a last-place finish in the program’s first Big Ten season.

Washington roster movement

Players returning with eligibility: Zoom Diallo, Franck Kepnang

Players departing due to exhausted eligibility: Great Osobor, Tyree Ihenacho, Luis Kortright, DJ Davis

Players who departed via transfer portal: Mekhi Mason (to Wake Forest), Tyler Harris (to Vanderbilt), Wilhelm Breidenbach (to Grand Canyon), Dominique Diomande (to BYU), KC Ibekwe (to Pacific), Christian King (to Montana State), Jase Butler (to Colorado State)

Players arriving via transfer portal: Lathan Sommerville (from Rutgers), Quimari Peterson (from ETSU), Jacob Ognacevic (from Lipscomb), Wesley Yates (from USC), Bryson Tucker (from Indiana), Christian Nitu (from Florida State), Mady Traore (from Frank Phillips College)

Players arriving from high school/overseas: JJ Mandaquit (247sports Composite top 50), Courtland Muldrew, Jasir Rencher, Hannes Steinbach

Sprinkle’s response to an abysmal year one? The Big Ten’s best high school recruiting class and fifth-best transfer portal class, per 247Sports. Top 50 high schooler JJ Mandaquit highlights that class and the Huskies hauled in two mid-major conference players of the year (Peterson, Ognacevic) alongside a productive Wesley Yates and once highly touted recruits in Sommerville and Tucker.

What to like about Washington

So far in this series, not many lower-projected teams have much talent on the roster. Washington does. Zoom Diallo had a strong freshman year and showed a lot of upside, and the incoming transfers – for the most part – have all been productive at their previous stops.

Yates is the prized possession of the transfers. The sophomore guard redshirted his freshman year at Washington, transferred to USC and served as the Trojans’ second-leading scorer and now returns to Seattle.

The Huskies also get a fresh start. Last year was bad, really bad, but this is an entirely different team. With tremendous turnover and a year in the Big Ten under his belt, Sprinkle has a legitimate chance at a year-two turnaround.

What to question with Washington

How this roster all fits together will be interesting to monitor. Washington is a prime example of the new transfer portal era – characterized by extreme unpredictability. How this team meshes, both in terms of chemistry and player archetypes, will determine the direction the season takes.

The wing is by far the weakest position group for the Huskies. Washington may not even start a wing and could play three guards and two posts instead. This could create some size disadvantages on the perimeter on both sides of the ball.

How Sprinkle grows and compares to other Big Ten coaches is also a factor. It’s just his second season coaching at the high-major level and his seventh year as a head coach. His success at Montana State was impressive, but in his sole season at Utah State, he inherited a great situation and went on to win there.

Washington’s outlook for the 2025-26 season

Home: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin

Away: Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, Rutgers

Home/Away: Oregon, UCLA, USC

Washington currently projects as No. 14 in the Big Ten and inside Bart Torvik’s top 60 projections for next season. The Huskies finished last year ranked 110th by Torvik and their current projection marks the highest projected jump for any Big Ten team.

This team can overachieve. The talent is there and the depth looks to be, too. The Big Ten will be a bloodbath this upcoming season, but if Washington can compete well enough in conference play, it could sneak into NCAA tournament bubble talk.

(Photo credit: Washington Athletics)

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