ESPN’s Jeff Borzello put Washington head coach Danny Sprinkle on the hot seat watch this week. The Huskies second-year man might not be let go this year, but the college basketball insider said “things are heating up.”

Initially, Sprinkle signed a six-year deal in March of 2024, worth $22.1 million. He left Utah State after two years to coach the Big Ten program.

However, he is 27-32 in a year-plus at this point. Sprinkle’s accolades screamed that this Washington team could make the NCAA tournament, like what he did at Utah State and Montana State. So far, no dice.

“It’s only Year 2 for Danny Sprinkle with the Huskies, but things are already starting to heat up in Seattle,” Borzello wrote. “The program has spent significant money on Sprinkle’s rosters, but is just 26-32 overall in those two seasons, including 9-27 in Big Ten play. When Sprinkle was hired in March 2024, he’d signed a six-year, $22.1 million contract.”

In one year with Utah State, Sprinkle had to completely overhaul the Utah State roster and brought some of his own pieces from his former stop, Montana State, to join up with a slew of transfers. Ultimately, this thrown-together roster found a way to come together and win a very competitive Mountain West this season before winning an NCAA Tournament game against TCU last year.

Doing some of the same out in Seattle has not worked out to this point. But as Borzello pointed out, perhaps one more year will do it. It seems to be postseason play or bust for 2026-27, based on Borzello’s reporting.

But at least Sprinkle and the Huskies won their last time out. They defeated Rutgers 79-72 to get to 14-14 on the year.

“I had people telling me I was committing professional suicide by taking this job — I didn’t think that way,” Sprinkle said. “Did I know we had some deficiencies? Yeah. Did I know the league we were going into would be brutal? Yes, I did. Did I know the landscape with NIL? Yes. We have to find a way to navigate that moving forward …

“That’s just how I’m built. I’ve always kind of had a chip on my shoulder and been the underdog, and that’s not going to change. That’s why I took this job — it is a challenge.”