UW Hoops Legend Shares Winning Message With Newly Assembled Huskies

isaiah-thomas

Washington coach Danny Sprinkle didn't need an introduction when former star Isaiah Thomas came to speak with the newest rendition of the Husky men's basketball team this week.

Thomas' famed No. 2 jersey hands in the rafters inside Alaska Airlines Arena.

Over his three seasons at UW from 2008-11 the 16-year NBA veteran won 76 games, nearly 75 percent of the 105 total games he played in after signing with the school out of Curtis High School in Tacoma.

"The one thing I'm going to tell you, if you play hard, give it your all and work hard each and everyday — obviously win — you will be loved here forever," Thomas told the team on Tuesday in a video shared on social media by the UW men's basketball program.

After reaching the 20-win mark in each of his first two seasons at UW former coach Mike Hopkins never won more than 17 games in a season over his final five years at the school with just one winning season in Pac-12 Conference play over that stretch.

Sprinkle, in contrast, hasn't won less than 23 games as a head coach in his two prior stints at Montana State and Utah State, earning three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances over the last three seasons.

The 2023 Husky Hall of Fame inductee is one of several former players who recently spent time with the new UW basketball team.

Last Thursday Sprinkle and the players hosted Wanda and Ron Crockett, a 1962 graduate of the University of Washington and 2017 Gates Volunteer Service Award recipient who has been heavily involved in giving back to the school, especially to Husky Athletics, along with former UW hoopers Detlef Schrempf, Marquese Chriss and Abdul Gaddy.