Washington head men’s basketball coach Danny Sprinkle has announced the addition of longtime Oregon assistant coach Mike Mennenga to his coaching staff.
Mennenga’s move to Montlake comes after 12 seasons of unprecedented success at Oregon that included 285 wins, four Pac-12 Championships and three Pac-12 Tournament titles.
With Mennenga on staff, the Ducks also consistently excelled in postseason play, earning seven NCAA Tournament bids, advancing to at least the second round all seven times. In 2017, Oregon reached the Final Four for the first time since 1939, advancing to the Elite Eight in 2016 and the Sweet 16 in 2019 and 2021.
Mennenga’s primary responsibilities on Dana Altman’s staff were player development and recruitment. During his time in Eugene, Oregon developed three Pac-12 Players of the Year in Joseph Young, Dillon Brooks and Payton Pritchard as well as fellow All-American Chris Duarte and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Jordan Bell.
During Mennenga’s 12 years with the program, Oregon signed eight five star prospects according to 247Sports, including Tyler Dorsey, Troy Brown Jr., Bol Bol, Louis King, N’Faly Dante, Nate Bittle, Kel’el Ware and Kwame Evans. The Ducks had signed just one such prospect prior to Mennenga’s arrival in Eugene.
Mennenga began his Division I basketball coaching career at the University of Maine in 1996, where in his four seasons on staff, the team’s accomplishments included setting a program record for wins. He spent the next five seasons at the University at Buffalo, and contributed to the team’s win total increasing from five in his first season to 25 in his fifth season.
Mennenga then spent time on the basketball staffs at Iowa State, Providence and Canisius. At Canisius, he worked under Coach Jim Baron, and contributed to consecutive 20-win seasons for the program, which had not been accomplished in the previous 20 seasons.
Mennenga earned his associate’s degree from Vincennes University in 1990 and his bachelor’s degree in finance from Morehead State University in 1993, where he was a member of the basketball team.