A Survey of First Year Husky Men’s Basketball Coaches

As Danny Sprinkle gets ready to take the helm of the Husky men’s basketball team, I started wondering (as I usually do) about the history of it all. How have the first years of different Husky head coaches turned out? Is there any similarity that can predict how coach Sprinkle will do in his first year? Probably not, but I love doing these kinds of pieces, so let’s have some fun and learn some things today, shall we? Some of you might recall a similar piece I did for football last year before Coach Deboer’s second season, and this will keep the same format, so let’s start with Washington’s first ever coach.

David C. Hall

From the program’s inception in 1896 to 1908, UW’s men’s team did not have a coach, or, as was the case from 1897-98, 1900-01, and 1906-08, no team at all. The first UW team with a consistent coach came in the 1908-09 season, and they were led by David C. Hall. Hall, a bronze medalist at the 1900 Olympics in the 800 meters (where he set a then Olympic record in the semifinal), also coached track at UW, and was a medical doctor and professor. Hall’s Sundodgers went 9-1 that year, with all of their games coming at home, against smaller colleges, area high schools and club teams. This type of hodge-podge scheduling looks bizarre today, but was common for football back in those days, as well. Their biggest win came against Puget Sound, a 55-9 drubbing. Hall led the program for one more season, going 14-6 in 1909-10, before coaching UW’s track team until 1912.

Warner Williams

The second coach in UW’s history only lasted one season, tallying a 11-1 record at the helm of the Sundodgers in 1910-11. This included wins against familiar regional opponents, like WSU, Oregon, Oregon State and Idaho, but also Whitman! The Sundodgers’ only loss of that season came in the second game of a road series with Oregon, 27-13. Williams did end up coaching an All American, forward C.C. Clementson, but this was all I could dig up on Williams.

Oscar Olson

Oscar Olson is a unique case in that he’s a player coach, one of two times that’s happened in Husky history. Olson went 12-4 in his first campaign, in 1911-12, where he served as captain. This included a 38-7 thrashing of WSU, and a 36-11 defeat of the vaunted Walla Walla YMCA, but there was also a 9-8 loss against Oregon State, so make of that what you will. Early college basketball was so weird, much like early college football. Olson would go on to coach one more season for UW, going 14-5 and posting a 26-9 record in his tenure overall. Not too bad!

Anthony Savage

Anthony Savage is another unique coaching case, having coached both football and basketball at Washington, a distinction shared later by Claude Hunt and Stub Allison. Savage went 12-2 in his first season at the helm in 1914, with losses to Oregon and Oregon State in a back-to-back road trip. Savage would coach one more season for the Sundodgers, finishing with a combined record of 29-4.

John Davidson

Davidson, the second of UW basketball’s player coaches, got off to a bit of a rocky start. He posted a 7-7 record, going 2-6 in conference. When you lose to the Multnomah Athletic Club, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate your roster or coaching abilities, but then again, it’s year 1. He got his act together (somewhat) in year 2, finishing 9-8, but losing to the Multnomah Athletic Club again. He was dismissed after this second season.

Claude Hunt

Claude J. Hunt continues our “basketball coaches who also coach football” thread. In the same year that the football team went 1-2-1, the basketball team didn’t fare much better in 1918. The Sundodgers basketball team went 4-8 that year, and went 6-10 the next year, resulting in Hunt’s dismissal.

Leonard “Stub” Allison

In 1919-20, the Sun Dodgers went with another hybrid basketball/football coach, tapping Leonard “Stub” Allison (then an assistant coach on UW’s football team) to be the head coach of the basketball team. Allison’s squad posted a 7-8 record with a 5-7 record in the Pacific Coast Conference. Allison only lasted one season at the helm of the Sun Dodgers before being dismissed. He was replaced by a man who needs no introduction if you’re a Husky fan.

Hec Edmundson

The man whose name is on the arena, Hec Edmundson coached the Huskies for 27 seasons from 1920-21 to 1946-47. In his first season, Edmundson guided the Huskies to an 18-4 record, with wins against the Seattle YMCA, Puget Sound and the Spokane Athletic Club among their nonconference highlights. In PCC play, the Huskies were dominant in their last month, winning every game from February 18th to March 5th. Edmundson was seen as an early adopter of a faster style of offense, something he attributed to his background as a track coach, which he did at UW from 1920 to 1954. The conference, however, underwent tremendous expansion throughout his tenure, going from 6 teams in his first season in 1920, to 8 by his second season in 1921, to an experiment with divisions in 1922, all the while occasionally expanding and contracting (going from 8 to 9 teams, up to 10 and then back down to nine, where it would stay until the PCC’s dissolution in 1959). Once this format was standardized, teams played each other twice in conference, similar to today. Edmundson was also an accomplished track athlete, competing at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics in the 400 and 800 meters. Over his 27 years at the helm, Edmundson won 4 PCC titles, going to the NCAA Tournament in 1943, and winning 488 games in his time at UW.

Arthur McLarney

Art McLarney’s athletic career was wonderfully strange. A basketball and baseball star at WSU, he lettered in baseball twice in 1930 and 1932, was PCC All Conference in basketball for 2 seasons (first team in 1930 and second team in 1931). After he was done with college, he was signed by the New York Baseball Giants, where he played a month in the big leagues. He hit .130 with 3 hits and 3 runs driven in. Despite playing for the Giants in spring training the next year, he was sent down to Single A, and spent the rest of his career in the minors.

In 1947, after being an assistant for the Huskies in Hec Edmundson’s final year, McLarney was elevated to the head coach position, also coaching baseball from ‘47-’49. He then proceeded to go 23-11 in his first season, winning the PCC title, and going to the NCAA tournament, where he and the Huskies would win the regional third place game, 57-47 against Wyoming. He would coach for 2 more seasons, posting a combined record of 53-36 at the helm of the Huskies, being dismissed as a result of his problems with alcohol. McLarney would later coach Portland in basketball and baseball.

Tippy Dye

William Henry Harrison “Tippy” Dye was named the next basketball coach of the Huskies in 1950. Dye, formerly a football and basketball player at Ohio State, immediately came in and picked up where McLarney left off, going 24-6 and winning the PCC title on the way to a Regional Third Place finish, beating BYU 80-67 in the third place game. The team was led by center Bob Houbregs, who averaged 13.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game that season. The Huskies also got solid contributions from forward Frank Guisness (13.1 PPG) and guard LaDon Henson (7.8 PPG). Overall, Dye’s tenure as Husky coach reached its apex in 1952-53, where he led the Huskies to a Final Four berth (the only one in their history). Dye posted a cumulative record of 156-91 over 9 seasons at the helm.

John Grayson

John Grayson took over in 1959, after leading Idaho State to three tournament bids in his three seasons there. His tenure at UW however, fell short of those lofty highs. In his first year coaching the Huskies, Grayson led the team to a 15-13 record, going 2-9 in conference play in the first year of the existence for the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU), formed in the aftermath of the collapse of the PCC. The team was led in scoring by center Bill Hanson, who averaged 16.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.

As for Grayson, he never reached the tournament, never won more than 16 games in a season and finished with an overall record of 57-49 in 4 seasons as the Huskies coach.

Mac Duckworth

Then AD Jim Owens promoted one of Grayson’s assistants, Mac Duckworth, to succeed him, hoping for more success. He did not get it. Duckworth went 9-17 overall in his first year, and 5-10 in conference. That first season more or less set the tone for Duckworth’s tenure, as he only posted a record above .500 once, going 13-12 in ‘66-’67. He was replaced by a name that should be familiar to all hardcore basketball fans.

Tex Winter

The man who invented the Triangle offense, and later used it to propel Michael Jordan’s Bulls and Kobe Bryant’s Lakers to nine combined NBA championships as an assistant under Phil Jackson, had a stop in Seattle as the coach of the Huskies. In his first season as head coach of the Huskies in 1968-69, Winter posted an even 13-13 record, improving over Mac Duckworth’s efforts. Winter’s Huskies were led by forward George Irvine (15.5 PPG, 7.5 RPG) and center Jay Bond (13.4 PPG, 7.1 RPG). Despite their 7-5 record in non conference play, which is perfectly okay, they went 6-8 in PAC 8 play, finishing well outside postseason contention. Overall, Winter coached the Huskies for 2 more seasons, both times finishing over .500, but failing to make the tournament. Winter left the Huskies in 1971 to coach the Houston Rockets, later becoming the head man at Northwestern and Long Beach State before going back to the NBA, teaming up with the Zen Master to win nine titles as an assistant, plus one more as a consultant for the Lakers in 2009. He was replaced by another name that needs no introduction among Husky fans.

Marv Harshman

After Winter’s final season, in which he went 15-13, WSU’s Marv Harshman was tapped to succeed him. Harshman saw immediate success in his first season, posting a mark of 20-6. Even though the Huskies won most of their games in 71-72, including going 10-4 in conference, John Wooden was doing what he always did in Westwood, a whole lot of winning! In an era with only one automatic bid per conference, that meant that Wooden’s UCLA Bruins would make the tournament that year, as they were conference champions, with a perfect record in PAC 8 play. Harshman did have plenty of talent on his squad, including Steve Hawes (uncle of another UW legend, Spencer Hawes.), who averaged 21 points and 14 rebounds per game. Other leaders included guard Charles Dudley (16.5 PPG, 4.6 RPG) and Louie Nelson (15.1 PPG, 3.8 RPG). All three men would go on to have careers in the NBA. Harshman, meanwhile, would go on to make 3 tournament appearances, in ‘76, ‘84 and ‘85. That ‘84 run was special, as the Huskies (led by Germany’s own Detlef Schrempf and Christian Welp) advanced all the way to the Sweet 16 before losing to Dayton. Harshman, however, retired after the ‘85 season, after being pressured by UW.

Andy Russo

Harshman was replaced by former Louisiana Tech head man Andy Russo, fresh off of leading his Bulldogs to a Sweet 16 berth in ‘84-’85. Russo went 19-12 in his first season in Seattle, behind a stellar campaign from Christian Welp (19.4 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 1.8 APG) and solid support from Greg Hill, Paul Fortier and Shag Williams. Despite 22 points and 9 rebounds from Chris Welp, the Huskies unfortunately fell in the first round of the NCAA tournament, losing to Michigan State, 72-70. They were powerless to stop Scott Skiles, who had 31 points, 7 assists and 2 steals in the Spartan win. Russo never again secured a berth to the NCAA tournament in his 4 season tenure, though he and the Huskies did go to the NIT in ‘87, winning 2 games before losing to Nebraska. Russo resigned after the 88-89 season, going on to coach Reyer Venezia in Italy, and then D2 NCAA teams in Florida Tech and Lynn. He was replaced by former Tex Winter assistant Lynn Nance.

Lynn Nance

Formerly a Husky basketball player (averaging 17.5 PPG, and 9.5 RPG in his final season in ‘65), then a Husky assistant coach from ‘68-’70, Lynn Nance then became an FBI special agent for three years, then an investigator for the NCAA, before getting back into coaching in ‘76. His winding road eventually led him back to Montlake in 1989. For the ‘89 season, Nance went 11-17, despite solid players in Eldridge Recasner (16.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 3.4 APG), Dion Brown (11.3 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 1.3 APG) and Doug Meekins (10.4 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 1 APG). His tenure from there didn’t improve much, as his best season saw him go 14-14 in ‘91. Nance resigned at the end of a 13-14 season in ‘92-’93, with a cumulative record of 50-62.

Bob Bender

Former Illinois State Redbirds coach Bob Bender was tapped to replace Nance after his resignation. In his introductory news conference, he said that he would try to emulate the success of Don James’ football program, as well as other college football programs around the country. That did not work out for him, at least, not in year one, as the Huskies finished with an abysmal 5-22 record in year one in ‘93-’94. Part of that was the inability to keep forward Mark Pope in Seattle, as he transferred to Kentucky, where he won a national title in ‘96, and I would wager the other part of it was the growing pains of being a first year head coach. To Bender’s credit, he did coach the Huskies to 2 straight NCAA Tournament appearances in ‘98 and ‘99, but his tenure was lackluster other than that, as he finished with a cumulative record of 115-143. He was fired in 2002, and served as an NBA assistant coach and scout for several teams until 2018.

Lorenzo Romar

Romar was hired to take Bob Bender’s place and it was a smart hire. For one thing, he guided Saint Louis to a conference tournament title and NCAA tournament berth in 2000, and for another, he was an alum, having played guard at UW from ‘79-’81 under Marv Harshman, and in the NBA for several teams until ‘85. Those two things contributed to Romar’s success for a while, but like most coaches at UW, it took him a year to settle into things. That ‘02-’03 Husky team was filled with names you might recognize: Will Conroy, Nate Robinson, Bobby Jones, and Brandon Roy. Despite all the talent, Romar’s Huskies posted a record of 10-17, going 5-13 in PAC 10 play. He would slowly build up from there, using impressive recruiting classes stocked with local talent to secure six NCAA tournament berths in his tenure (including a #1 seed in ‘04). However, near the end of his tenure, the magic started to wear off, as his last tournament appearance was in 2010-11 (the year of Isaiah Thomas’s “Cold Blooded” shot to win the PAC 10 tournament). In his final season in 2016, Romar went 9-22 overall and 2-16 in PAC 12 play, despite having future #1 pick Markelle Fultz at point guard. He was fired after 15 seasons at the helm of the Huskies, posting a cumulative record of 298-196. Romar went on to be an assistant coach at Arizona, and later returned to Pepperdine, where he was the head coach for 6 seasons. He is now going into his first season as an assistant coach at Loyola Marymount.

Mike Hopkins

And that brings us to Mike Hopkins! Hop played for longtime Syracuse Orange coach Jim Boeheim, and later became one of Boeheim’s top assistants, eventually being named Head Coach Designate in 2015. Rather than wait around, he took the UW job in 2017. Upon his arrival, he implemented Syracuse’s zone defense, to relative success at first. In Hop’s first year at the helm, he went 21-13, led by Jaylen Nowell (16 PPG, 4 RPG, 2.7 APG), Noah Dickerson (15.5 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 0.9 APG) and David Crisp (11.6 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 3.1 APG). A tournament appearance the next year solidified UW’s status as a team on the rise, and an extension followed. Then the bottom almost completely fell out. A mediocre ‘19-’20 season (15-17 overall) was followed by an abysmal 5-21 season in ‘20-’21. 3 more mediocre seasons followed before Hop was fired, coaching his last game (a loss in the PAC 12 tournament against USC) on March 13th, 2024. 12 days later, Danny Sprinkle was formally hired away from Utah State, and will be UW’s coach as the Huskies look to establish themselves in the new look Big Ten!