Since four-star point guard JJ Mandaquit signed with the Washington Huskies, head coach Danny Sprinkle has been singing his praises.

Now that he’s back from Lausanne, Switzerland, where he won a gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Cup with Team USA after averaging 6.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest, he’s getting a chance to practice alongside his college teammates for the first time and has impressed right away.

“JJ’s probably the best point guard I’ve ever played with, honestly,” USC transfer Wesley Yates said. “He always makes the right reads, he can knock down an open jumper, he’s a leader, vocal at a young age, too; it looks effortless out there. He’s super fast, super quick, but he just knows how to play the game of basketball. His touch for the game is amazing.”

Mandaquit’s classmate, forward Hannes Steinbach, also got an up-close look at his new teammate in Switzerland when he and Team Germany faced Mandaquit and Team USA in the gold medal game. Although his team lost, the big man came away excited for what’s ahead with his new teammate.

“Our scouting report on him was that he’s always pressuring the ball,” Steinbach said. “He’s just a really high-energy guy, and he’s shown it in practice. But he’s one of the best passers and just brings all that energy and leads his team even though he’s a freshman, it’s really impressive.”

As a leader and pass-first point guard, Mandaquit has made a point to get to know all of his teammates off the court. Sprinkle called his 2025 class “The Four Amigos” since he said that Mandaquit, Steinbach, Courtland Muldrew, and Jasir Rencher do everything together, and the point guard said that spending as much time as possible together is one of the most important ways to build chemistry.

“I think it’s easier to play together on the court if you’re bonded off the court,” he said.

Ahead of his first season of college basketball, he’s expected to come off the bench behind an experienced trio of USC transfers Wesley Yates and Desmond Claude, and East Tennessee State transfer Quimari Peterson, but as he continues to grow, he could wind up as a critical piece of Sprinkle’s rotation.