2026-27 Big Ten offseason at a glance: Washington Huskies

Photos from IU basketball's 90-80 win against Washington at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

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 2026-27 season.

Today: Washington (16-17 overall in 2025-26, 7-13 in Big Ten play)

Previously: Penn State, Rutgers, Minnesota, Northwestern

Viewed as a potential NCAA tournament team entering the 2025-26 season, Washington was a disappointment in year two of the Danny Sprinkle era.

The Huskies finished outside the top 50 in KenPom, with an overall record under .500 and a losing conference record.

When Washington fired Mike Hopkins in the spring of 2024 and hired Sprinkle, the hope was that the program would consistently be in the mix for NCAA tournament bids. Sprinkle arrived in Seattle after reaching three straight NCAA tournaments at Montana State (2022, 2023) and Utah State (2024), but the success has not translated to the high-major level.

As Sprinkle prepares for his third season at Washington, he faces another offseason of significant roster turnover and pressure to improve on two underwhelming years to begin his tenure. If that doesn’t occur, he will soon be on coaching hot seat lists.

Washington roster movement

Players returning with eligibility: Wesley Yates III, Lathan Sommerville, Mady Traore, Jasir Rencher, Nikola Dzepina

Players departing due to exhausted eligibility: Quimari Peterson, Jacob Ognacevic, Desmond Claude

Players who left early for the NBA draft: Bryson Tucker, Hannes Steinbach

Players who departed via transfer portal: Christian Nitu (to McNeese), Courtland Muldrew (to Georgia Tech), Franck Kepnang (to Kentucky), JJ Mandaquit (to Arizona), Zoom Diallo (to Kentucky)

Players arriving via transfer portal: Parker Friedrichsen (from Davidson), Steele Venters (from Gonzaga), Ryan Beasley (from San Francisco), LeJuan Watts (from Texas Tech)

Players arriving from high school/overseas: Lattimore Ford, Wini Braga, Tristan Devers

Washington faces substantial roster turnover this offseason, headlined by Steinbach’s departure for the NBA draft. The German-born big man is slated to be a first-round pick in June.

Additionally, Peterson, who averaged 9.2 points, graduated and Claude, who was brought in last season to play a significant role in the backcourt, is gone after appearing in just 12 games. Additionally, Tucker declared for the NBA draft, and several key players, including Diallo, Kepnang and Mandaquit, left via the transfer portal.

The Huskies have added four players from the transfer portal, two international prospects in Braga and Devers and a high school signee in Ford.

What to like about Washington

The wing and guard rotation for Sprinkle is shaping up to be good. Yates, who averaged 12.7 points last season, is back, and the program added two potential impact transfers: Beasley from San Francisco and Watts from Texas Tech.

Beasley, a 5-foot-11 point guard, averaged 13.6 points, four assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 33.3 minutes last season for the Dons. Watts, a 6-foot-6 forward, averaged 11.8 points, six rebounds and 2.4 assists in 27.3 minutes per game last season under Grant McCasland for the Red Raiders. Washington will be the fourth school in four seasons for Watts, who has also played at Washington State and Eastern Washington.

That trio has the makings of a solid nucleus for Sprinkle to build a competitive Big Ten team.

Looking back at his time at Montana State, his first head coaching job, Sprinkle took a significant step forward in his third season, improving from 13-10 to 27-8 and reaching the NCAA tournament.

What to question with Washington

The loss of Steinbach up front is significant, as is the departure of Kepnang, who was a solid rebounder and shot blocker.

Returnee Lathan Sommerville, who began his career at Rutgers in the 2024-25 season, played in just 22 games last season and saw his numbers drop significantly as a sophomore. He’s going to be counted on for more minutes and production in a new look Washington frontcourt.

The rotation will also feature the Brazilian-born Braga, a 21-year-old who averaged 10.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in Brazil’s top professional league last season. Washington also welcomes back 6-foot-9 forward Nikola Dzepina, who averaged 2.6 points in just over 11 minutes per game last season.

Washington will have size and bodies to have adequate depth up front, but will it have the production and talent to compete with the Big Ten’s top teams?

Washington’s outlook for the 2026-27 season

Here’s the Washington Big Ten schedule for next season:

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

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

Home/Away: Oregon, UCLA, USC

Looking at Bart Torvik’s current projections for the 2026-27 season, Washington is currently a bottom-five Big Ten team and just outside the top 70 nationally.

That would be a disappointing finish in year three for Sprinkle, who was viewed as one of the sport’s up-and-coming coaches when he arrived in Seattle just over two years ago.

Washington needs its transfer portal additions in Beasley, Watts, Friedrichsen and Venters to be productive, and its international signees, Braga and Devers (from Australia’s NBL), to also provide a boost. If Yates can stay healthy and return to the form he showed two seasons ago at USC, Washington should be able to outperform its current projection of a bottom-five league finish. If not, Sprinkle will begin to feel the heat.

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