Washington is turning to a familiar modern fix for roster churn: adding a general manager.
The Huskies men’s basketball program has hired former Syracuse Orange general manager Alex Kline for the same role, a move aimed at helping Danny Sprinkle and his staff manage the constant rebuild that has defined the first two seasons of his tenure.
That rebuild has been relentless. Sprinkle, the former Montana State and Utah State head coach, had only two players from his first year in the Pacific Northwest set to return for the 2025-26 season. But even that number disappeared when guard Zoom Diallo and center Franck Kepnang transferred to the Kentucky Wildcats this offseason.
Now Washington is down to six players expected back for 2026-27, with nine roster spots still needing to be filled.
The turnover has been paired with a heavy injury load, and the results have been rough in the Huskies’ first two seasons in the Big Ten. Washington went 13-18 overall and 4-16 in conference play last season, finishing last in the league. The year before, the Huskies finished 16-17 and 7-13, good for 12th in the conference.
Kline arrives after being fired by Syracuse this offseason along with former head coach Adrian Autry and the rest of that staff.
On Syracuse’s athletics site, Kline’s duties were listed as: "Scouting and recruiting; former student-athlete engagement; Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) opportunities; transfer portal management and institutional fundraising in collaboration with university advancement."
If his Washington role mirrors that job description, he should give the Huskies another hand in the push to strengthen their Class of 2027 recruiting.
In Other News...
Washington Freshman May Have Already Changed This Defensive Rotation
The first college game could hardly have gone much better for Derek Colman-Brusa. The Washington freshman defensive tackle logged meaningful snaps in the Huskies 24-10 win over Washington State and made his presence felt in a hurry, stacking up tackles, pressure and a tipped pass that helped produce an interception. For a player recruited as an edge rusher, the move inside already looks like it may have given the Huskies another disruptive piece up front.
Colman-Brusas fast start fits the approach Washington has taken under a staff that has been willing to play the best options, even if they are true freshmen. He added significant weight in the offseason before settling in on the interior, and that transition has helped open the door to real early playing time. If this is the beginning of a larger role, the Huskies may have found a defensive rotation answer much sooner than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Washington Gets An Early Warning About Bronco Mendenhalls Aggies
Utah States first week under Bronco Mendenhall offered a blunt early snapshot for anyone scouting the Aggies, including Washington fans keeping tabs on a future Pac-12 peer. In an interview with Dan Allison, the conversation centered on how Mendenhall is trying to mold the roster, what the offense and defense are supposed to look like, and where the clearest strengths still sit as the season gets rolling.
There is still a lot of uncertainty around how quickly the Aggies can clean up the rough edges from Week 1 and become a factor in the reformed league. The pieces are there to see a team with a defined identity taking shape, but the bigger question for Washington is whether Utah State can turn that structure into something more dangerous before conference play starts to sharpen every flaw. [Read more 🡒]
Washington Heads Into Utah State With Two Problems Fans Already Saw
The Huskies opened the 2026 season with an Apple Cup win over Washington State, closing it out with a late touchdown and a key interception from Alex McLaughlin. It was the kind of early-season result that can steady a program, but it also left behind a few issues that were easy to spot even in the joy of beating a rival. Two interns, Jack McCauley and Luke Mounger, pointed to the same broad concerns while handing out their game grades and looking ahead to Utah State.
Washingtons offensive backfield already looks thinner than it should this early, and the next matchup will test how quickly the staff can patch that together. Discipline is part of the conversation too, because the Huskies did not help themselves with penalties in the opener, and those kinds of lapses tend to matter more once the margin for error shrinks. Against Utah State, the result may turn less on the headline plays than on whether Washington can clean up the details it already knows are a problem. [Read more 🡒]