For the second time in school history, the Washington Huskies are set to compete in one of the most prestigious non-conference basketball tournaments in the country, the Southwest Maui Invitational.
On Wednesday, the program announced that coach Danny Sprinkle’s team will head to Hawaii in 2026, where it will face off with some of college basketball’s biggest powers. The eight-team field will also feature Arizona, BYU, Clemson, Colorado State, Mississippi, Providence, and VCU.
During the 2010-11 season, Washington went 1-2 in Maui, notching a 106-63 win over the Virginia Cavaliers behind 18 points from Isaiah Thomas and 12 from Abdul Gaddy, Sprinkle’s director of player development. After winning their first game, Lorenzo Romar’s team fell 74-67 to John Calipari and Kentucky, before coach Tom Izzo, a now-Big Ten foe, and Michigan State beat the Huskies 76-71 in the third-place game.
Now, as Sprinkle looks to reinvigorate Washington basketball during his tenure, he should bring a talented roster with him to Maui, which could ignite plenty of energy into the program during his third season.
Sprinkle is expecting big things from point guard JJ Mandaquit, who, along with his fellow four-star 2025 classmates Courtland Muldrew and Jasir Rencher, could form a young core for years to come. Combined with veteran pieces like Zoom Diallo and Wesley Yates III, who have eligiblity remaining, Washington could have one of the most lethal backcourts in the Big Ten.
As Sprinkle looks to continue developing promising pieces in the frontcourt like Christian Nitu, Mady Traore, Lathan Sommerville, and Hannes Steinbach, the Huskies could bring a competitive team to Maui, and may have a solid chance at walking away with the championship.