Sprinkle is different, though. Not only did he bring back three COVID-eligible seniors for the 2021-22 season at Montana State, he constructed a Big Sky powerhouse with new recruits — a powerhouse that again went to the NCAA Tournament this season despite Sprinkle moving on. Then he led Utah State to its first stand-alone Mountain West title since entering the conference in 2013.

This is why a source told Seattle Times Huskies basketball writer Percy Allen that "It's his job if he wants it" before any agreement was made with Sprinkle. Can't hurt that Sprinkle has ties to the region. He was born in Pullman, he coached and played at Montana State, and his father, Bill, played football at UW.

Yes, there were some Washington players who would have liked to have seen assistant Will Conroy take over the program. As Washington freshman Wesley Yates III posted on X last week: "Would love coach Conroy and Quincy (Pondexter) to take over this program and lead us into the Big Ten."

And perhaps the universally respected Conroy would have had success in that role. But that would have meant the Washington brass following the same blueprint the university did with Hopkins years earlier. Sprinkle has shown he can win at multiple schools as the top man. That's what this program needs right now.

The past eight months or so have been among the wildest in UW athletics history. In August of last year, the announcement came that the school would be leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten.

A few weeks later, athletic director Jen Cohen bolted for the same job at USC. A few months after that, the football team made a run to the national championship game, only to have two-year coach Kalen DeBoer leave for Alabama after the loss to Michigan. Earlier this month, just after firing Hopkins, Cohen's replacement, Troy Dannen — who hired Jedd Fisch as the Huskies' new football coach, accepted a job as Nebraska's AD. And now there's Sprinkle.

Not sure stability has ever been so desired in Washington's athletic department. But Sprinkle could help provide it.

The man wins. And for now, this proven winner looks like a victory for the Huskies.

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