Danny Sprinkle, New Huskies Basketball Coach, on UW Job So Far

Danny Sprinkle, new Washington Huskies basketball Head Coach, joins Dave Softy Mahler at the Final Four down in Phoenix to discuss his job and progress so far at UW.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Enjoining us from radio row. Hecame over to say, hello, head
coach at you dub. How youdoing, man, Danny sprinkle with us?
What's up? Man? Man,I'm doing great. It's always a
great day to be a dog.And I'll tell you what the names you
listed you already had on. Ohyeah. People probably stopped listening that once
you hear my Hey, a lotof pressure, man, don't question about
it. By the way, speakingof pressure, Jackson, our producer was
asking you off the air about thefirst pitch at t Mobile Park. Oh.

(00:23):
Man, that's the most pressure Ifelt. Tell us why, Well,
when you're warming up in the back, you're just in the hallway,
you're just throwing pitch and catch,and then all of a sudden you get
out there and you got all thepeople, and I had all all my
buddies and they're like, man,don't blow it. You can't leave it
show, don't skip it to homeplate. And then you go stand on
the mound and it's you look up. You're like, man, this is
a little bit higher than I thought, right, And uh, I didn't

(00:45):
feel any pressure until I like literallystood on the mountain. I was like,
OK, I just got to getthis across, even if it's a
little high. Well, basketball isobviously in your blood in your background,
but was there was there baseball?Was there football growing up as a kid
for you? Oh yeah, yeah, I mean obviously my dad being a
football coach, That's that's what Idid. I grew up on the football
field, but I played baseball upuntil I think seventh grade. Yeah.
And my team actually went to theBambino World Series down in wilmat To,

(01:08):
North Carolina. Wow. So yeah, our all star team. So no,
it was awesome. I mean Ieven had somebodies like texting me and
they're like, that's why we didn'tlet you pitch back. Then they put
me in the alfield. I gotto hear about your football career. Tell
me about that. Yeah. Iwasn't able to play my senior year.
I got hurt in track my junioryear, so I wasn't able to do
AAU anything that whole summer. Butyou know, I mean I always loved

(01:32):
it. You know, basketball wasalways kind of I was better at it.
You know, I would have probablyI would have had some scholarships in
football, but it was one ofthose things like that's how I grew up,
you know, on the football fieldwith my dad and in Montana.
That's what you do. Yeah,no doubt. Well, there's a lot
of activity going on here at theFinal Four. It's kind of a gathering
spot every year for coaches, assistantcoaches, head coaches. So tell us

(01:53):
about the NABC meetings. What's goingon down here that maybe could potentially impact
what you do up in Seattle.Yeah, I haven't been down here too
much. This is the first timeI've been to the convention. I gotta
go check in actually right after this. But yeah, there's a couple of
meetings for head coaches, assistant coaching, different seminars, like there's some great
stuff even you know, some coaches, you know, like a clinics.

(02:15):
There's some really good things for youknow, a lot of young coaches to
be here. But it's fun toalways come down and just see all the
different coaches. And you know,I mean obviously with getting a new job,
I got a lot more friends thanI used to have. Yeah,
everybody wants to be everybody wants toknow how they can help coach Sprinkle.
Well, it feels like it's beensix months since you got the job.
Yeah, it's only ten days ago, for God's sake, you had the

(02:35):
press conference. So tell us aboutthe last ten days and how busy you've
been. Yeah, it's NonStop,you know, I mean the first eight
months when you first get a job, it's crazy. Until really after your
first season, it doesn't slow down, you know, recruiting, you know
what I mean. We got webasically got to put together, you know,
an entire roster again, and sowe have a couple of guys you
know, standing back, which isgreat, you know, but we got
to hit the portal. We gotto hit the high school scene hard,

(02:58):
Juici. We gotta hit everything rightnow. So it's it's a competitive environment
with so many kids getting in theportal every day. You know, you
can't lose track of the ones thatyou were kind of on from the beginning,
you know, the ones that youknow fit our style, and so
we gotta you know, just kindof knock them down one at a time.
And obviously, you know, wegot one, but we can't comment
on anything until they're signed, right, But hopefully we have a couple more

(03:19):
down the pipeline pretty quick. Yeah, I know, there's a couple of
guys you can talk about. Ican say their names. You can't say
Mikai Mason from Rice coming over.Corn Johnson's got his name of the portal.
I saw Osa Borr has his nameof the portal as well. Are
you allowed contact with the guys inthe portal like the kids you coached at
Utah State? Yes, okay.And I couldn't contact them until they got
into the portal, right, andonce it's official, then I can.

(03:42):
Then I can start calling them likeevery other school. Okay. So when
it comes to and I guess there'sno other way to say this, but
it's really finding money for kids.I mean this is so new for everybody.
It's new for me, it's newfor you. I mean you gotta
have a war chest in some waysto go shopping for players. So how
much of your job is looking forthose funds to secure the guys you need?
Well? Yeah, I mean ifwe don't have it, you don't

(04:02):
get players, you know, especiallyat the big ten level, you know,
I mean that's what it's come downto. You know a lot of
most of these kids have agents nowand that or they're smart enough like them
and their family know their market value, right so you know, and kind
of right now, with it beingkind of the wild wild West. It's
you know, it's it. Theyjust keep negotiating and it ends up,
you know, a lot of kids, they're not going to so much the

(04:23):
best situation for them. They're justgoing to where the most money is right
and right. You know, Idon't necessarily think that it's not a good
thing. You know, yeah,it's great they're being compensated, but they
still have to make sure they're goingto the right fit academically, socially,
basketball wise, coaching staff wise,you know, because otherwise, you know,
those teams are going to have thirteenplayers just like them, and you
can't play thirteen guys, so there'salways going to be six or seven guys

(04:45):
that aren't happy, and they'll beback in the portal next year. You
know. It's funny Coach and DannySprinkle joining us from the final four here
in Phoenix, that we're having theseconversations and I've been doing this for a
long time and we were not allowedto have conversations like this, and I
almost feel like we have to whisper, like, don't let anybody, but
it's okay, it's okay now,Like Jamal Mashburn was on with us,
and his son plays for I believein New Mexico. He's in the portal,

(05:06):
right. He said he did nottake a dime of nil money when
he went to New Mexico. Sosome guys do it different. But do
you feel and I don't know ifthere's a better way to ask this,
Maybe there is. Do coaches feelpressure to play certain guys that are making
certain amounts of money because of theirnil income? Does that potentially ever creep

(05:28):
into your head that hey, thisguy's got to see the court, this
guy's got to see the field becauseof how much somebody's paying them. Yeah,
you know, I mean this willbe the I mean the first time
that I have to probably feel that, you know, Like I can't answer
it right now. You know,we didn't have a lot of nil at
Utah State. Sure I'll ask youwhen the year's are. Oh yeah,
but you know, but like I'mthe typtoo and I tell all the recruits

(05:49):
like I don't care how many starsyou have by your name. I don't
care how much money you have.I don't care where you're from. Like,
if you're not gonna help us win, I'm not going to play you.
I don't care like I'm not I'mnot doing that. Yeah, Like
I want to win too much,and I know how important it is the
Husky Nation. Like, you can'tdo that. And you know, if
you do get caught up like that, you know, then you're obviously not

(06:10):
playing your best players. And it'snot fair to me. If I'm paying
you more than somebody else and they'rea better player than you are producing more,
what kind of what tone of mysetting in the locker room? You
know, what what kind of cultuream I setting? And you know it's
not fair to the kids. It'slike the NBA, it's yeah, the
best players are gonna play, andthat is that's the attitude the pros havef
Yeah, because let's face it,this has become in some ways pro basketball.

(06:33):
I mean, there's examples of thatin the NFL. Russell Wilson comes
in as a as a rookie intwenty twelve. But Matt Flynn's making the
money, but Russell Wilson plays exactbecause he beat him out. So the
right man for the job always regardlessof income. Totally agree with you,
But coach sprinkle with us, andeverybody wants to know about the coaching staff
right, people plugging me? What'sgoing on? Gottlieb was on the show

(06:54):
yesterday and it says he's hearing TonyBland's coming. The name Jerry Hobby is
getting kicked around. Can you tellus anything on the record now about your
coaching staff at all? Yeah,I can. You know, I can
tell you Andy Hill is on mystaff and he came with me. We
know that. And then the restof the staff, you know, hopefully
in the next seven to ten days, gotcha will pretty much be kind of
finalized. I love it. Whatdoes coach Hill bring to the table.

(07:15):
Yeah, tremendous X and O coach, tremendous relationship with players. He's got
an unbelievable perspective, you know,for me because I'm like, I'm wired
one way, and he's got sucha great perspective that every day he's the
same, you know, and it'she's fun to be around, and he
brings out the best in you,you know, because it's like, you
know, even after like a toughloss or something like, his perspective is

(07:35):
like, hey, we're not thatbad. We're still gonna be okay.
And he kind of he kind ofbrightens your day. You know what you
need as a head coach. Doyou need a do you need a good
cop to the bad cop? Oh? Yeah? Are you the bad cop
at times? Yeah? Like I'vehad to be, you know, in
the first in first couple of years. You know, like I don't always
like being the bad cop, butlike I have to be the hammer.

(07:58):
Like that's what you are as thehead coach sometimes too. And like I
know, the culture starts with meevery day, right and the energy throughout
the entire program, my coaching staff, like it's gonna feed off me every
day. And uh, you know, so I understand that, you know,
as a leader. But you know, he he's tremendous. You know,
he spent ten years at University ofUtah with Larry Kristoviak, who's one
of the best you know, offensivemindes I've I've seen coached against. Uh

(08:20):
so Andy really learned a lot fromthose guys. But he's he's a tremendous
international recruiter, right like some youknow Yaka Perlu. You know Pela Larson
who was at Arizona this year,that was one of his kids. The
Lazar kid who was at UCLA thisyear. You know, those were all
his recruits and in fact, Utah'sbest player this year Carlson, that was
Kristoviac and Andy Hill. He's stillthere, but like those are the players

(08:43):
that they had. And so,you know, he's a tremendous evaluator of
talent and I think that's one ofthe special things he brings. How different
will your team look next year versusthe team that we just saw end the
season under coach Hop I don't,I don't know, you know, I
mean, you know, I knowthey they had tons of talent. You

(09:03):
know, it'll be different. Youknow, it'll be different like everything,
you know, But I thought theydid some really good things, like they
did. They just they lost alot of close games, you know,
they really did. And uh youknow, sometimes it's just a shot or
two here and and that's the wholemental makeup of your team for the next
week. If one of those shotsgoes down, you might have five or
six more wins. And so,you know, I love coach Hop,
Uh, you know, one ofthe best human beings. And just his

(09:26):
positivity rubs off on you. Haveyou talked to him, by the way,
yes, And he's phenomenal, youknow, I mean, we talked
even you know before I you know, got the job, I mean obviously
helped me with you know, someof the transfers we had. But you
know, everybody in the profession hassuch great respect for him, and I
do too. And you know,he's really excited. He said, Hey,
I had my I had my opportunity, you know, and like,

(09:46):
I'm super excited for you. You'regonna kill it, like he's I'm here
for you like and he means it. A lot of people are, you
know, they get bitter when thingslike this happened. But he's taken the
high road. But it's who heis, you know, and that's why
great things ahead of him for himtoo. No, that's phenomenal. I
love hearing that because I know whenLorenzo got let go, Mike and Lorenzo
also had that same relationship. Mikewas very open and honest in public about

(10:11):
how much you supported yes and respectedLorenzo. Because there's a fraternity here right
of Husky coaches that you are nowa part of. So I love hearing
that. But you're here at thefinal four. Are you hanging around for
the games tomorrow? You're heading homewith your schedule. I'm heading back.
You're going back, all right,to go back to Seattle. So you've
worked. You played Perdue in thesecond round, right, So if you're
talking to NC State's guys, DJ, they don't want to ask me if

(10:31):
they watched that film. They're notgonna call me and say, hey,
coach, what was the game plan? Well, maybe maybe you would have
done something different. Now, ifyou could do anything differently against Perdue that
maybe you think NC State can dotomorrow, what would that be? I
would have recruited way bigger players andway taller players. Because no, but
I mean our guys they gave it. They're all like, it's he's he's
a mismatch for everybody, right,you know, And yeah, we only

(10:54):
really had two guys over two hundredand twenty five pounds, and so any
of those guys getting fout trouble,Like, I mean, he's seven to
four and he's probably three hundred poundsand he can move right. And you
know, Painter does such an unbelievablejob with their spacing and their offense,
like they just they put you inpositions to where you can't help or if
you do help. Now, it'sa lot at the rim and you have
a six to two guard tagging himon the roll, like you have no

(11:16):
chances, So you have to pickyour poison, you know. I think
NC State. You know they gotthe big fellow, the DJ Burns.
Yep, they can. You know, you have to stay out of foul
trouble, you know, like youcan guard him, but the more physically
you are, he's gonna get youin foul trouble sooner or later. So
then now all of a sudden,now you don't have DJ Burns on the
offense, I mean either, butyou can try and zone them. They're
still gonna get the ball to him, and then you either have to double

(11:37):
team and you have to dare himto make threes, you know, and
then you have to hope they havean off night. Yeah, you know,
it's funny. I don't think Coachand Danny sprinkle with us here in
Arizona. I don't think you've askedyou about what kind of defense you like
to play. And I remember thescene in Hoosiers when they're in the barber
shop and gap and walks in.What kind of defense do you play?
Man? The man is all that'sgonna beat their hun right, are you

(12:00):
a zone guy, you're a man, a man guy. You mix it
up. What's your philosophy? Yeah, you know, Manda Man. We've
been you know, probably eighty fiveeighty five percent Manda Man. And we're
a little different, Like it canchange. We'll switch one through five at
times, you know, depending onour lineups or who we're playing. But
a lot of times we're kind ofold school, like stay with your guy,
guard your guy, and keep yourguy in front of you, you
know, and then we also wantto help in the gaps. We're not

(12:22):
going to be undisciplined, you know, getting out you know, pressing and
trapping as much as we need,we have that in our package, but
I want to be disciplined, keepthem in front and make them make shots
over us. Ye. And thatway you're connected with your guy for box
out responsibilities and then you can getout and run hopefully. But you know,
we also have a one three onezone that I learned at cal State
Northwards from coach braswell. So it'sbeen twenty some years of running it and

(12:45):
it it probably won us. Imean just in my five years as a
head coach, probably fifteen games.Wow, Like we're it that it flat
won the game. Wow, evenagainst tcu UH in the incident, A
tournament like it helped. It helpedchange the whole pace of the game.
But you know, it's just it'sone of those things where there's only so
many things you can run against.The one three one you have to have.

(13:07):
You have to play against chaos,and you're not gonna be able to
shoot the same shots that you're gettingin rhythm. Now. We tried it
against Purdue, but the problem wasthey put Edie on a backside block and
they just throw it and they justthrew it to the rim and there's nothing
you can do right, and soit it obviously doesn't work against guys like
that, but it's been tremendous forus in the past and we'll definitely have
that in our package. I loveit well. I can't wait to see

(13:28):
it in person in November. Sobest of luck getting this thing put together,
hopefully, you said a couple ofweeks, seven ten days on the
coaching staff have a roster to talkabout. So best of luck, have
fun down here. We'll see itback. All my right, you got
it, go dogs, you betgo dogs. Hey, when we come
back, what do you say westay on the Husky train a little bit.
Rick Newheizel has popped in here inthe final four and Phoenix will go

(13:48):
from Husky basketball to Husky football nexton ninety three to three KJRFM.