Danny Sprinkle’s first season as the Washington Huskies‘ head coach was expectedly rough, both on the court and from a financial perspective, as the program spent nearly $1 million per win for the 2024-25 season.

Matt Brown of Extra Points did a deep dive on what every program in college basketball spent last season from an operational perspective, which includes coaching salaries, administrative salaries, scholarships, travel, software, recruiting, and all sorts of other operational expenses.

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UW ranked No. 37 in the country at $12,761,916 in total expenses, which is next to last in the Big Ten Conference with only Wisconsin lower on the list by $330,489—despite the two schools getting much different returns on their investments, with the Badgers finishing fourth in the league and 27-10 overall, three fewer losses than the Huskies had wins.

With a 13-18 debut season under Sprinkle, UW spent $981,658.50 per victory, No. 11 most in college basketball and fourth most of schools in the conference—Indiana ($1.6 million), Rutgers ($1.07 million) and Minnesota ($1.04 million) the three above the then-newly minted Big Ten institution—which is a more telling number than the overall $12-plus million in operational expenses.

While that figure is a view into just part of the cost, it specifically excludes what schools spent on rosters through Name, Image, and Likeness and revenue-sharing agreements—prevented from public record disclosure by FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)—which also is a significant factor in the outcome of the Huskies’ success.

Part of the figure likely includes the buyout for former coach Mike Hopkins, who was fired by ex-athletic director Troy Dannen, while Sprinkle’s $3.6 million first-year salary put him at No. 31 in the country.

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The school also paid Utah State a $2,898,781 buyout in monthly installments through March 2028, which offsets some of what could have been an even higher total expense.

Given the travel for the program to be in the furthest northwest point, it’s a rather impressive accomplishment to be able to be near the bottom in expenses, but the result didn’t help paint a more appealing picture.

With an improved record in year two but still no postseason basketball, whatever the numbers turn out to be for this past season, they won’t be looked on any better in the grander view of where the program stands.

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington men’s basketball operational expenses from 2024-25 season