SEATTLE — They called it the Frat House.

It’s a tongue-in-cheek reference to the place new Washington men’s basketball coach Danny Sprinkle and his staff lived shortly after taking over the Huskies program in March.

“There weren’t too many parties,” Sprinkle said, flashing a mischievous grin. “Nah, just kidding. There actually wasn’t any.

“We barely had time for anything other than recruiting. I mean, literally from 6 in the morning to midnight, we were consumed with recruiting and nothing else.”

The 48-year-old Sprinkle, who is all about connections, leveraged his hometown ties to Montana State where he was a star player, promising young assistant and heralded head coach who led the Bobcats to two NCAA tournaments, into a swank base of operations almost immediately upon arriving in Seattle.

“When I got the job, Will [Dissly] texted me and congratulated me,” Sprinkle said about his longtime friend, a Bozeman, Mont., native who starred at Washington and played six years with the Seattle Seahawks. “I coached his brother Nick, who was a big-time athlete, at Montana State. … I remember Will when he was 8-10 years old and he was this hockey player running around Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

“We spent a week or two in a hotel and had to find a place to live, but really had no time to find a place. He’s like, ‘You can rent out my place.’ It was the greatest thing. We all moved in and stayed like 2 1/2 months and once we finished recruiting at about the end of May everybody found places after that. But the timing was perfect, because that’s one huge thing you don’t have to worry about and it allowed us to focus on putting a team together.”

After Sprinkle and Husky assistants Andy Hill, Tony Bland and DeMarlo Slocum poured into Dissly’s posh four-bedroom east side Lake Washington home with panoramic views of downtown Seattle, they went to work on replenishing UW’s depleted roster.

They watched videos of prospective recruits, spent hours talking about basketball and the upcoming 2024-25 season and dined on takeout cuisine.

“I don’t remember anyone cooking,” Sprinkle said laughing. “But seriously, that was such a good time. We built camaraderie because there was nowhere else to go. It was just us. Everybody was familiar with each other and we’d all known each other just through basketball … but it was our first time being on the staff together.

“It could be 5:30 in the morning and you’d hear somebody, usually Tony because he talks loud, on the phone with a recruit. That was your alarm clock. It was just fun FaceTiming and Zooming with kids. We’d be in the living room just passing the phone around and showing what we could of Seattle.”

Rice guard Mekhi Mason, a 6-foot-5 junior, was the first transfer to commit to the Huskies on April 3.

“I was scheduled to take a visit to Texas and Xavier,” Mason said. “I took my first visit to Washington and I knew. This was something new. Coach Sprinkle came off two NCAA appearances and that’s what I’m trying to go to. He obviously knows how to win. After my first visit, I committed as soon as I got back home. I was like ‘Yeah, this is where I want to be.’”

Then Washington received a commitment from four-star recruit Jase Butler who along with four-star prospect Zoom Diallo — a holdover from former coach Mike Hopkins — are UWs only freshmen.

Over the next five weeks, the Huskies landed transfers seemingly every other day including (in order) DJ Davis, KC Ibekwe, Chris Conway, Luis Kortright, Tyler Harris, Great Osobor and Tyree Ihenacho.

When Sprinkle and Co. were done, they revamped a roster that finished 17-15 last season with 10 newcomers and three holdovers, including Franck Kepnang, Wilhelm Breidenbach and Christian King.

“I’m not going to lie, it was a different type of recruiting,” said Osobor who played at Utah State and Montana State. “I didn’t really know anybody except [Sprinkle], so I watched a lot of [YouTube] videos and things like that to learn as much as I could about the guys on the team.

“Anytime you bring together so many people from all over, you want to try and build chemistry as quickly as you can so you can be a better team. … I feel like, that’s going to be a big key for us. Just getting to know each other and playing like a team.”

After six weeks of practice, a closed scrimmage against Boise State and a blowout 105-68 win against Division II Western Oregon, Washington begins its first Big Ten season and opens the Sprinkle era 9 p.m. ET Tuesday against UC Davis at Alaska Airlines Arena.

“We know the challenge we have ahead of us,” Sprinkle said. “UC Davis is a really good team and everybody on the West Coast knows how good of a coach Jim Les is and how good their players are.

“Obviously, they have the preseason player of the year in the Big West [Ty Johnson] and they got a local kid [former Seattle Academy standout Leo DeBruhl] who is from Seattle. I guarantee at some point he wanted to be a Husky, so we’re going to get their best shot.”

Aside from Osobor, who is a Big Ten Player of the Year candidate, Sprinkle isn’t entirely sure what he’s assembled at Montlake.

Best case scenario: The Huskies quickly establish a viable rotation, identify their roles, particularly alternate scoring options on the perimeter to assist Osobor and develop a tight-knit defensive unit that wins 20 or more games, revitalizes a dormant fan base and snaps Washington’s six-year NCAA tournament drought.

Worst case scenario: It takes months to develop consistent chemistry and the Huskies struggle in Big Ten road games while never seriously competing for a league title and failing to finish among the top 14 teams who qualify for the conference tournament.

When asked the final message he’ll tell the Huskies before Tuesday’s opener, Sprinkle said: “Compete. I’ll take compete over playing hard. Everybody at this Division I level plays hard to an extent, but you got to compete.

“When there’s a loose ball, there needs to be five white jerseys diving on the floor. If there’s an opportunity to take a charge or make a game-changing toughness play, we got to be the team doing that.”

Three story lines

— Can Franck Kepnang hold up?

Kepnang’s injury-riddled career at Washington has been well documented and the Huskies are hoping he can hold up in a bid to come back from a third season-ending knee injury. When healthy and productive, the 6-foot-11, fifth-year center can be an integral defensive presence and rim protector on an NCAA tournament team.

— Do the Huskies have enough perimeter scoring?

Based on their three-point shooting percentages on previous teams, the Huskies aren’t loaded with an arsenal of perimeter scoring. Junior guard Mekhi Mason (38.1% three-point average) and DJ Davis (36.8%) will need to carry UW’s outside attack.

— The Big Ten is no joke.

Theoretically, the Huskies, which brought in 10 newcomers, will be better in January than they are now. But it remains to be seen if Washington, which was picked 15 th in a preseason Big Ten poll, can coalesce quick enough to remain relevant in its new league that sends 14 teams to the conference tournament.

Three players to watch

— Great Osobor, 6-8 senior forward: Osobor is a do-everything big man, preseason All-Big Ten standout and one of the top forwards in the country who can score, rebound, direct the offense and anchor the defense.

— Tyler Harris, 6-8, sophomore forward: Harris, who began last week’s exhibition on the bench and finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, is considered UW’s top NBA prospect who has been tabbed as a first-round pick in next year’s draft.

— Zoom Diallo, 6-4, freshman guard: Diallo, a 2023 McDonald’s All-American and Tacoma native, is another young Husky with a bright future who came off the bench in the exhibition and tallied 14 points and seven rebounds.

____

©2024 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.