Sprinkle was at Utah State for one year, he inherited a great situation from Ryan Odom who inherited a great situation from Craig Smith. Wouldn't really compare Sprinkle time in the league to Niko's time on the MWC. I would say Niko showed he could build and then rebuild at that level where as Sprinkle just took over a train that was already going 500 MPHI will repeat something I've written here before.
Danny Sprinkle of Washington was last year's Niko Medved - he was a very successful coach in the MWC, and was universally praised as a great hire, both within the fanbase and outside. Unlike the Gophers this year, they even brought in a high-dollar transfer (Great Osobor) among the many new players on the roster. They were still mostly under-talented compared to the rest of the league, though, and they struggled. We'll see how this year goes, but they did have a highly-ranked recruiting class and got USC's starting backcourt to come to Seattle.
This year for Medved is very analogous to Sprinkle's 2024-25 year (perhaps with even lesser talent). To expect better results than Sprinkle's year one/zero is perhaps being a little optimistic.
Sprinkle also won a championship in the Big Sky before coming to USU, and USU did win the league in his one year. Remember, that's a league that has San Diego St.. in addition to Medved's CSU, and Pitino's UNM. I would not pooh-pooh him - he's accomplished.Sprinkle was at Utah State for one year, he inherited a great situation from Ryan Odom who inherited a great situation from Craig Smith. Wouldn't really compare Sprinkle time in the league to Niko's time on the MWC. I would say Niko showed he could build and then rebuild at that level where as Sprinkle just took over a train that was already going 500 MPH
I'm not poo pooing anything just saying he inherited a great situation. MWC is about as good of a training ground as one can have. But like I said one year. I personally think what gets most coaches fired that have success is after they rebuild a program and have some success, they tend to falter on the reload and sustainability front. Obviously the greats like Izzo and Painter are able to do this but what got Pitino in trouble was after he built the Mason, Coffey, Murphy, he couldn't retain enough talent to keep the program from slipping and he was fired. Same thing with Juwan Howard at Michigan, Tom Cream at Indiana. Holtmann at Ohio State. Niko built, reloaded and retained at CSU, Sprinkle hasn't been anywhere long enough to prove that he can do that. Time will tell with Niko here and Sprinkle, Deveies, McCollum etc, but I like the odds with our guy based on track recordsSprinkle also won a championship in the Big Sky before coming to USU, and USU did win the league in his one year. Remember, that's a league that has San Diego St.. in addition to Medved's CSU, and Pitino's UNM. I would not pooh-pooh him - he's accomplished.
Sprinkle was 4 years at Montana State, his alma mater. They were a longtime losing program when he got there, and he got them to the tournament in both his 3rd and 4th years. That was pretty impressive, albeit at a lower level.I'm not poo pooing anything just saying he inherited a great situation. MWC is about as good of a training ground as one can have. But like I said one year. I personally think what gets most coaches fired that have success is after they rebuild a program and have some success, they tend to falter on the reload and sustainability front. Obviously the greats like Izzo and Painter are able to do this but what got Pitino in trouble was after he built the Mason, Coffey, Murphy, he couldn't retain enough talent to keep the program from slipping and he was fired. Same thing with Juwan Howard at Michigan, Tom Cream at Indiana. Holtmann at Ohio State. Niko built, reloaded and retained at CSU, Sprinkle hasn't been anywhere long enough to prove that he can do that. Time will tell with Niko here and Sprinkle, Deveies, McCollum etc, but I like the odds with our guy based on track records