EATTLE In a celebration of legacy, achievement, and undeniable impact, the University of Washington Department of Athletics has announced plans to retire the iconic No. 10 jersey of Husky women’s basketball legend Kelsey Plum during a ceremony scheduled for Jan. 18, 2025, inside Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
Plum becomes the first women’s basketball player in UW history to have a jersey retired and the sixth Husky to hang from the rafters overall. Others include: Bob Houbregs, Brandon Roy and Isaiah Thomas from men’s basketball — Courtney Thompson and Krista Vansant from volleyball.
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S FROM THE DESK OF HUSKY GYMNASTICS COACH JESSA HANSEN PARKER
tepping into this role at the University of Washington has been both an honor and an incredible opportunity. The team has been welcoming, and we have been laying a strong foundation since day one. We are fostering a culture of integrity, humility, adaptability, commitment, communication and reliability.
In training, we’re focusing on the details and striving for consistency and confidence in everything we do. I’m continually impressed by the dedication the team shows in helping one another grow every day. We are preparing to compete against any team in the country with confidence, especially as we host three teams in the regular season that have won national titles, which will provide invaluable experience as we approach championship season.
As we enter the Big Ten, we are excited for the new challenges ahead. This conference is highly competitive and filled with parity, offering us new opportunities and the chance to travel to exciting places across the country.
We’re also thrilled to host three rounds of NCAA Championships, which will allow us to showcase our program, campus, and the heart of Husky gymnastics to fans nationwide.
Our BLOOM theme represents resilience. It embodies our commitment to facing adversity with strength and positivity, emerging from challenges better and stronger. Just like flowers that bloom fully after the rain, we will rise, grow and thrive.
I believe this team will surprise everyone with their tenacity, cohesion and pure joy in competing together. We’re planting the seeds for something special, and I truly believe this team will make a significant impact this season.
Go Dawgs!
Jessa Hansen Parker, UW Gymnastics Coach
Jessa Hansen Parker
Make your impact and keep UW athletics on the cutting edge
Whether on the basketball court, the cross country trails, the soccer pitch or the volleyball court, University of Washington athletes are already making some big impacts in the Big Ten.
A football victory against Michigan. A 13-0 start to the volleyball season. The women’s soccer team qualifying for the Big Ten tournament. The men’s soccer team earning a win and two ties against nationally ranked conference opponents. And, cross country leading the pack at a major national meet.
However, success on this national stage comes with significant logistical challenges, whether it’s longer coast-to-coast travel, additional resources to help student-athletes stay on top of their academic game, or enhancing and updating aging facilities to maintain an edge for current and potential future Huskies.
That’s why UW Athletics launched Go BIG! for Washington this September, a five-year, $300-million fundraising effort, to pave the way for longterm success in the Big Ten Conference.
“While our Husky pride and educational mission remain steadfast, the landscape of intercollegiate athletics is changing at a near-frenetic pace,” Director of Athletics Pat Chun wrote earlier this year in a letter. “As we enter this new era and await full revenue share from conference membership, your generosity has never been more critical for our success.”
Scholarships might be what most fans think of first when it comes to funding a major intercollegiate athletics department — at the UW, that means supporting 22 teams and 650 student-athletes.
But there are countless behind-the-scenes, below-the-radar resources that play just as big a part in creating and maintaining top-tier competitive programs.
Through the rebranded Go BIG! Fund (previously known as The Competitive Edge Fund), loyal Husky supporters can provide student-athletes with more on-the-road academic support, expanded clinical and performance psychology services, enhanced performance nutrition through the newly renovated Don James Center, and the newest sports medicine and performance technology to optimize training and recovery.
On the facilities front, an upgraded football operations center in Husky Stadium, which would include an improved weight room, enhanced players’ lounge and recovery room, along with updated team meeting rooms and office spaces, is one of the priorities. Another one is a renovated softball complex.
For season ticket holders, a Go BIG! Fund contribution will come with the chance to improve their seats next Husky Stadium reallocation. Gifts to the
Continued on page 8
fund earn 1.5 priority points for every $100, with gifts of $100,000 earning 2 priority points for every $100.
Donors who are inclined to make a game-changing gift of $50,000 or more, will also earn a one-time 150 priority point bonus (limited to the first 100 donors).
Regardless of the amount, every donation will have a tangible impact for Husky student-athletes.
“There’s something so special about following college sports and enjoying a fierce loyalty to your favorite school,” Chun said in earlier letter. “Nothing can match the thrill of competition, the joy in victory, the promise of young studentathletes giving their all. Those emotions, that purple-and-gold pride, will never, ever change.
“Neither will our mission of providing Husky student-athletes with a worldclass education complemented by the life-changing lessons they learn through their experiences at the University of Washington.”
As 2024 comes to an end, please keep your Huskies in mind for your yearend philanthropy. A gift to The Go BIG! Fund is the best way to ensure that UW student-athletes have everything they need to succeed in the Big Ten and in life.
Learn more and donate at: GoBigUW.com or (206) 543-2234.
Head Coach Tina Langley and her fully
fueled
Troster is ready for Big Ten play STANDARDS
BY BART POTTER • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE
here is little new anymore about the culture Head Coach Tina Langley has created around the Washington Huskies women’s basketball program, even as it moves to a new conference — the Big Ten — for the 2024-25 season.
The culture on Montlake is established, and it’s thriving. It has fostered continuity: The leadership among Husky players and the understanding of the Husky way has a clear line of succession.
The players themselves, in Langley’s fourth season on Montlake, talk the talk and walk the walk.
“I just feel a lot of joy in playing in that kind of style and culture,” said Elle Ladine, the No. 2 scorer among returning players. “(Langley) pushes us to be our best every day. She sets high standards for this team — she sees the potential in all of us and really believes in us, which is very important to have in a coach.”
An example of this program’s continuity is the hiring of Lauren Schwartz as a new assistant coach. Schwartz was the second-leading scorer, the three-point field goal leader and a “coach on the floor” for the Huskies last season. It was her fifth year, including two years at Rice, in a program coached by Langley.
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Dalayah Daniels
Sayvia Sellers
Stines Coppinger Hannah Stines
Devin Coppinger
Sayvia Sellers
When Langley came to UW before the 202122 season, after five years at Rice, she inherited a program that placed 12th in the Pac-12 in 2020-21. Langley needed only two years to implement a turnaround, boosting the Husky win total from seven in 2021-22 to 19 the next year. The 12-game improvement was the second-best one-year improvement in program history.
The Huskies advanced to the WNIT Fab Four in 2022-23 after finishing 16-15 (6-12 in the Pac-12) in a loaded Pac-12 Conference. UW had four wins — three on the road — over AP-ranked opponents (at No. 21 Washington State, at No. 11 USC, vs. No. 9 Oregon State, at No.18 Utah).
The victory against No. 9 Oregon State meant UW beat an AP Top-10 opponent for the second straight season, making it the first time defeating a Top-10 opponent in consecutive seasons since 2016-17. The 10-point win over OSU was the first double-digit win over a ranked opponent since 2014. The Huskies went on to have another doubledigit win over a ranked opponent at No. 18 Utah by 15 points.
The 2023-24 Huskies earned a spot in the postseason for the second season in a row, playing in the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament. The Huskies lost, 64-56, to Georgetown in a firstround game at Alaska Airlines Arena.
Academic excellence has become a standard for the Huskies. In two seasons with Langley, the program's GPA improved from 3.2 to 3.54, placing them first in the Pac-12 over Stanford, UCLA, and Cal. All of her graduation-eligible players have received a diploma and Washington holds a perfect Academic Progress Rating from the NCAA (highest in the Pac-12).
“We have a great academic adviser,” Ladine said. “I think just having that group of people trying to help us is really useful in balancing school and sports.”
Sellers
The Huskies opened the new season Nov. 4 against crosstown rival Seattle University, the first of nine non-conference games that included a trip to Nassau, The Bahamas, for the Pink Flamingo Championship.
Tayra Eke
The Huskies opened the new season Nov. 4 against crosstown rival Seattle University, the first of nine non-conference games that included a trip to Nassau, The Bahamas, for the Pink Flamingo Championship.
UCLA, also a new member of the Big Ten, is the opponent for the Huskies’ first conference game Dec. 8 at Alaska Airlines Arena.
Utah, now a member of the Big 12 conference, visits UW Dec. 14 ahead of the Husky Classic Dec. 18-19, for which Boise State, Furman and North Dakota State visit the Dawgs’ home court.
The Huskies fully launch their Big Ten journey with road games against Northwestern and Illinois Dec. 28 and 31, the first two of 17 straight conference games leading to the Big Ten tournament March 5-9 in Indianapolis.
Langley’s Huskies take pride in the new world with fundamental pieces in place.
Dalayah Daniels, a 6-foot-4 forward from Seattle’s Garfield High School, led the Huskies in scoring (11.9 points a game) and rebounding (7.2 per game) last season, the second in a row she led in those categories. Her 57 blocked shots in 2023-24 (a bump up from 52 the year before) has her third on the UW career list for blocks with 109 (behind Talia Walton’s 177 and Liz Chicane’s 144), with a realistic shot at topping the chart before she’s done.
Among her teammates, Daniels’ presence and influence are a given.
“She’s a great leader,” Ladine said. “She’s been doing this for five years and she knows what it takes. She kind of guides all of us.”
Ladine, a 5-11 junior from San Francisco, can fill up the hoop. She averaged 11.6 points in 29 starts last season, with breakout games of 24 against Cal and 23 in the win over No. 9 Oregon State.
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Dalayah Daniels
Eke Ladine Daniels
Elle Ladine
Ladine Sellers Daniels
Stines Langley
What would a successful season look like for Ladine and her teammates?
“In my opinion, it would be us being together and living out our culture and the values we set in this program,” she said. “One day at a time, one thing at a time, really trying to go 1-0 every time.”
Hannah Stines, a 5-11 junior from La Mirada, Calif., led the team with 2.5 assists per game last season and will again be looked on to initiate offense. She averaged 9.2 points per game and hit 37 three-pointers (second on the team) in 2023-24.
On defense, Daniels has a partner in crime in returning ballhawking guard Sayvia Sellers and found a new fellow frontcourt force in 6-3 Tayra Eke of Madrid, Spain, a senior transfer from Eastern Michigan.
Sellers, a 5-7 sophomore guard from Anchorage, led the Huskies with 41 steals mainly playing off the bench in her freshman season. She averaged 8.5 points with 35 three-pointers, third on the Huskies, and was named to the all-Pac-12 freshman team.
Eke averaged 9.5 points per game (48.1 percent field goal percentage) and 7.3 rebounds and recorded 57 blocks and 23 steals at Eastern Michigan last season.
Also new to the program is Devin Coppinger, a 5-10 guard from Everson, Wash., the Huskies’ only freshman recruit, who comes to UW after a lauded career at Nooksack Valley High School. The three-time Northwest Conference Player of the Year and two-time Class 1A state tournament MVP led Nooksack Valley to back-to-back state titles in 2023 and 2024.
A four-star recruit, Coppinger was rated No. 35 in the ESPNW Top 100 rankings.
What would a successful season look like for Ladine and her teammates?
“In my opinion, it would be us being together and living out our culture and the values we set in this program,” she said. “One day at a time, one thing at a time, really trying to go 1-0 every time.
“Just starting off in the first game, give it our all and compete at the highest level. That togetherness and hard work is going to transfer against any team in the whole country.”
Go HUSKIES
Hannah Stines
Dalayah Daniels
Tayra Eke
New ON THE Horizons Hardwood
Head Coach Danny Sprinkle’s fresh roster and knack for igniting personnel brings new hope to Hec Ed
TBY BOB SHERWIN • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE
o get an idea of what’s ahead for the Washington basketball players wearing purple and gold this season, you need to go back to where they’ve been.
Eight players transferred into the Husky program over the winter, joining a 15-player roster that had two transfer holdovers from a year earlier. They arrived from courts all over the country: Rice, Utah State, Montana State, Portland, Butler, Oakland, UC Irvine, James Madison, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Quinnipiac, Nebraska, Oregon State and Oregon.
Different programs, different coaches, different styles, all needing to assimilate under another newcomer, Head Coach Danny Sprinkle, hired away from Utah State in March to become the 20th men’s basketball coach in school history. The program, which began playing ball in 1896, also embarks on a new era, switching from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten this season.
“It’s hard because as a competitor you’d love to come in and be at the top of the Big Ten, and have five, six returning players who produced at a high level,” Sprinkle said.
“When we got the job, it was below ground zero. We had to recruit an entirely new roster. We had to hire an all-new staff, guys I never worked with before. Those were the expectations put on me.”
On top of the expectations, he puts on himself.
“There were some built-in adversities before I even took the job. I knew that. I have no problem with it,” he added. “I’m still not going to settle for being mediocre. I don’t care if it’s the first year.
Continued on page 18
“Will there be some lumps? Sure, there will be, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to lay down. We are going to compete and fight every day. That’s what we did at Montana State (four-year 81-43 record, two NCAA berths) and that’s what we did at Utah State (28-7 last season, NCAA berth). I only know of one way to go about it, just compete every day. You know, when your back is in the corner, that’s when you’re at your best.”
Sprinkle took over the Utah State program a year ago with nine minutes per game and no points returning from the previous roster and was predicted to finish ninth in the Mountain West Conference. Yet, his team won the conference title and an NCAA selection for the first time since 2001. Washington noticed, luring the 48-year-old to Montlake, where his father, Bill Sprinkle, was a defensive back for the Huskies (1965-68).
Like Utah State, the Huskies lost much of their scoring power and experience to graduation and transfers from their 17-15 team. The eight incoming transfers instantly become the core of the team. They are: senior 6-8 forward Great Osobor (Utah State/Montana State), junior 6-5 guard Mekhi Mason (Rice), senior 6-1 guard DJ Davis (Butler/UC Irvine), senior 6-9 forward Chris Conway (Oakland), senior 6-4 guard Tyree Ihenacho (James Madison/North Dakota), sophomore 6-8 guard Tyler Harris (Portland), senior 6-3 guard Luis Kortright (Rhode Island/Quinnipiac), and junior 6-10 center KC Ibekwe (Oregon State).
They are armed with varied skills and potential. Davis led Butler and the nation in free throw percentage at 95 percent, Conway started for the Oakland team that beat Kentucky in the NCAAs last season and Kortright had 117 assists for Rhode Island last season.
How would all these disparate players and skills conform into the Sprinkle style? It was still a work in progress as the season began but there is one player assured of playing time, and that’s Osobor. Sprinkle knows what he can do, as Osobor has followed Sprinkle from Montana State to Utah State to Washington. He averaged 17.7 points and 9.0 rebounds last season, earning AP All-American honorable mention and was the Mountain West Player of the Year.
“He’s been our best player,” said Sprinkle, who said Osobor could
Christian King
Mekhi Mason
be a first-team Big Ten selection and even league MVP. “Great knows how I want to play. He knows. Now we must get everyone else to play that physically.”
We aren’t going to see West Coast finesse anymore. It’s Midwest beef.
“It’s a completely different league than the Pac-12,” Sprinkle said. “It’s (Big Ten) a great league that produced a lot of pros, but it’s a totally different style, it’s a totally different type of kid, from a beef standpoint. It’s really physical. It’s not as free flowing as the Pac-12. That’s the challenge.
“I know what we’re walking into in the Big Ten. You can’t be soft; you can’t be finesse. You have to deliver the hits. If you’re always taking hits, you’re not going to make it,” he added. “We are not going to get the calls in Big Ten play. That’s why we’re coaching the way we’re coaching.”
Returning senior 6-11, 253-pound Franck Kepnang can handle the center position, but a knee injury has slowed his development. He played in just 10 games last season, starting seven. He averaged 8.3 points and 5.9 rebounds. “Franck loves physicality, which is great, but you have to be smart, too,” Sprinkle said. “We can’t have him in foul trouble.”
In early season games against Nevada and UC Davis, Kepnang showed his promise to grab boards with limited minutes to aid the knee recovery (six rebounds in 18 minutes vs. the Wolf Pack) and provide the “beef” Sprinkle is looking for when Big Ten play begins.
Ibekwe, the 6-10, 287-pound transfer from Oregon State, literally fills the area. He appeared in 32 games for the Beavers last season, starting 22. He averaged 5.1 points and 4.0 rebounds, but his senior season for Centennial HS in Coquitlam, B.C., Ibekwe averaged 29 points and 14 rebounds. His KC. name translates as King of the City, but Sprinkle might prefer to reduce his domain to just King of the Court.
Two other returning Huskies will bring size and needed wing play. Wilhelm Breidenbach is a 6-10, 235-pound senior and played in 32 games last season — valued for his outside shot. Christian King, 6-8, 215-pound freshman, was redshirted last season. He is the son of former Seattle SuperSonic Rich King.
Continued on page 21
There are also a couple high school recruits on the roster. Zoom Diallo, a 6-4 guard from Tacoma Curtis High, was the No. 3 high school point guard in the country and two-time state championship MVP. Jase Butler, a 6-4 guard from San Anselmo, Calif., was a top 100 recruit who switched his commitment from Illinois to the Huskies in April.
“Zoom and Butler are good guards,” Sprinkle added. “But they are freshmen. It’s hard for freshmen to contribute to this league. But they’re not scared, and they’re just getting better and better.”
Building a program primarily via high school recruits is nearly impossible now. The continued emergence of competitive NIL programs among NCAA institutions and the quick snap transition to the transfer portal make for increasing player transition for all collegiate sports, especially the money programs of football and basketball. It's yet another challenge presented to Washington entering the Big Ten.
“Everybody is dealing with it. But, as an institution, we have to keep up,” Sprinkle said. "We’re not in the forefront of this, from an NIL standpoint, when compared to some of the other Big Ten programs. We’re not near the top.
"Recruiting is transactional. It doesn’t matter if he’s your son, if someone else pays him twice as much, that’s where he’s going,” he added. “It’s so different from anything we have been accustomed to. You can’t build a program right now. It’s a transfer portal. You can recruit a kid and he can have a great freshman year, and if someone offers to pay him more, he’ s out. It’s hard for fans, it’s hard for coaches, it’s hard for teammates, but that’s the landscape we’re in.”
It’s a new day for Washington, the Huskies and for college basketball, where the term one-anddone has an entirely different meaning.
QUESTIONS
BY BART POTTER • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE
D
alayah Daniels enters her final season of college basketball as an acknowledged leader of the Washington Huskies as they compete as a member of the Big Ten conference for the first time.
The 6-foot-4 Daniels, a homegrown product from Garfield High School in Seattle, has been a durable and productive player since her transfer from Cal before the 2022-23 season.
In her first year for Head Coach Tina Langley’s Huskies, she led the team in scoring (11.3 points a game), rebounding (6.7 per game) and blocked shots (52), starting all 34 Husky games. Last season, she improved in all those categories (11.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, 57 blocks).
Daniels is currently third on UW’s career blocked shots list with 109, behind only Talia Walton (177) and Liz Chicane (144).
In advance of the season, Daniels answered 10 questions for Go Huskies Magazine about Husky basketball and her career beyond.
Homegrown Husky Dalayah Daniels brings a complete package to the 2024-25 season and has a shot at breaking the all-time shots blocked record at UW
How do you assess the challenges for the Huskies playing in a new conference with mostly unfamiliar opponents in 2024-25?
“I think it’s just adapting to a new system and to a new conference. I think every other team is facing the same things — longer flight times, adapting to the competition levels. We’re excited for the challenge. I think the Pac-12 was a lot more finesse, not as physical in certain positions. I think the Big Ten is more guard-heavy, and their bigs are more traditional in a sense, not as finesse, which is still a fun style to play with and against.’’
With all the newness this year, is there a comfort level for you being in your third year in Coach Langley's team culture?
“I’ve definitely adapted to our culture. Transferring is always hard, having to get to know the system and what the coach wants and what the future looks like. You want to build a competitive legacy, and being a part of that is so special, just being around players who want to be in a culture like that. Also, I’m home — that’s also a comfort factor for me, having my family here.’’
How do you see your role, as a senior leader, in helping your youngest teammates adjust to college basketball and learn the Husky culture?
“I think it‘s interesting, because when I did come in, I was learning with the young’uns I’m playing with now. The sophomores and juniors that we have don‘t need to be told what to do. They’ve already been in this culture with me, and what’s so special about it is we don’t have just one specific leader, we’re all leaders in ourselves. It’s the way Coach Tina has raised us, in a sense. It makes it more fun, more fluid. We know we can all pull our own weight. We only have one freshman (Devin Coppinger, from Everson, Wash.). She has adapted to our culture very well — it’s very easy for her. Also being in our home state gives her another layer of comfort, as well. And just knowing we are her family away from her family.’’
Can you talk about your team's goals for the 2024-25 season?
“Just like every other team, we want to win, and win at the highest level in the postseason. It starts with the day-by-day mentality — just staying in the moment, what the moment needs, not thinking too far ahead. Just keep stacking good days, and eventually the fruits of our labor will show.’’
What are your personal goals for this season?
“I think on a leadership level, just to be more vocal intentionally about the things our team needs to hear. I’m still learning when I should address certain things at the right time. I’m excited to keep growing my skill set. Just compete, and just stay in the moment.’’
You have a chance this season to become the all-time shot blocker in program history. Can you talk about what makes you a good defensive player?
“I think being in different systems in college you pick up a lot of techniques and different ways of playing the game. Every coach has a different style of defense. Coming here I wasn’t used to the style of play, and I think it’s made me even more versatile. I can move on the ball, help teammates against bigger players. That’s also where our team is going and makes us deadly as a team and hard to play against.’’
When a WNBA scout looks at Dalayah Daniels and her game, what do they see?
“Just a competitor, someone who’s fierce. I just try to channel an angry side sometimes. I’m pretty versatile. They’ll see a person who genuinely cares for her teammates and wants to win. I love to show emotion — and I think that brings a different edge to our team. I think any (pro) team that I’ve watched always has a player who brings energy, and you need it. You need someone who says, when the defense is not doing well, OK, we got this. Get a stop or take a charge. You want to make sure every little thing is celebrated.’’
When you assess your readiness for playing at the professional level, what improvements in your game would you like to make?
“I think just being more efficient overall with my shot selection. I’m very capable of doing everything … I see myself out there in so many different (pro) players. I can also be that type of player. I can defend like that — I can bring a lot of things that any team could benefit from.’’
Awareness and appreciation of women's basketball, at both the college and professional levels, are at an all-time high right now. What does that mean to you as a female athlete?
“I love how much more awareness we’re getting. The fan base in college alone and also in the WNBA, I definitely think it’s long overdue. It’s gonna be fun to play in front of a new fan base this year. What’s so special about women’s sports is there’s so much more loyalty. That loyalty factor has played a part in helping grow programs.’’
What would a great season in 2024-25 look like for Dalayah Daniels and the Huskies?
“I don’t really have a vision. I’m more concerned about how we’re going to be the next day — just being better than we were the day before. To just be relaxed and understanding that we’re all supported. I think we’re just excited to compete. We’ve put in so much hard work; we’ve seen so much growth already in the past five months of the offseason. It’s always fun to put your skills to the test. We’ve got to remember that this is a game, a game that we love. We don’t have to get up every day and play it — we get to. If we keep that same mindset, I think we’ll end up where we deserve to be.’’
Huskies make impacts on the gridiron, court, trails and pitch in their new conference
TBY MARK MOSCHETTI • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE
he rematch was what Washington football fans everywhere wanted … and so was the result.
On a fall October Saturday evening, 261 days after coming up short against Michigan in the national championship game, the Huskies turned the tables on the Wolverines. Inside a packed Husky Stadium, filled with 72,132 fans, Washington came up with a touchdown and two field goals in the final 10 minutes to secure a 27-17 victory.
Unlike the previous 15 Washington-Michigan showdowns, which included four Rose Bowls, this one counted for more than just bragging rights or pride. It also counted in the Big Ten standings, as the Huskies continued their inaugural season in the conference that is home to numerous traditional football powers — the Wolverines among them.
The Huskies made their Big Ten debut two weeks earlier on Sept. 21, also on Montlake, and an impressive debut it was with a 24-5 triumph against Northwestern.
As the calendar moved toward the end of October, Washington had built a 4-3 overall record to keep itself in contention for a postseason bowl game. That would be contingent on winning at least two of its final five games.
Of those five, three were slated against former Pac-12 Conference rivals Southern California on Nov. 2, then back-to-back weekends against UCLA in the home finale on Nov. 15 and at Oregon on Nov. 30. See GoHuskies.com for stats and insights on these historic battles.
Sandwiched around those games were trips to Indiana and Penn State.
Powering the Huskies through the first half of the season were senior quarterback Will Rogers, sophomore wide receiver Denzel Boston and junior running back Jonah Coleman. Through the first seven games, Rogers completed 72 percent of his passes for 13 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Of those 13 TD tosses, nine were caught by Boston, including a 51-yarder at Rutgers.
Coleman established himself as the go-to guy on the run, racking up 688 yards and getting into the end zone five times by the midway part of the season.
EMONI Bush
IOANNA Papatheodorou
WILL Rogers
JONAH Coleman
JULIA David-Smith
RONAN McMahon-Staggs
JULIA Hunt
Volleyball: UW starts with 13 wins in a row
The first month of the volleyball season was a perfect 10 for Washington … and then became a perfect 11, a perfect 12, and a perfect 13.
That’s how many consecutive matches the Huskies won at the outset of their 2024 schedule. That included their first three Big Ten contests, all of which were 3-0 sweeps: at home against Indiana and Illinois, and on the road at Iowa.
After being near the bottom of the “also receiving votes” list in the national preseason coaches’ poll, Washington moved into the rankings at No. 25 on Sept. 30 and climbed to No. 24 a week later. With a 14-4 overall record and an early 4-4 mark in the rugged Big Ten (which, as of Oct. 21, had seven teams in the top 25), the Huskies were still on the cusp of returning to those rankings as October neared its end.
Looking to return to the national tournament after missing out in 2023, coach Leslie Gabriel’s team was coming at opponents with a multi-pronged offensive attack. While senior outside hitter Madi Endsley (180 kills) and junior outside Emoni Bush (172) were the primary threats through the first 18 matches, they were just two of the seven Huskies with more than 100 kills.
One of those was freshman middle blocker Julia Hunt. Along with 129 kills on attentiongrabbing .402 hitting, Hunt also was coming up big on the block with a team-high 79.
Cross Country: Women and men off to flying starts
Even before they get to the biggest cross country races of the season, the Washington women have proven they can race against — and beat — the biggest opponents.
In a span of three weeks, the Huskies won the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Sept. 27, then placed second at the NCAA Pre-Nationals. Both meets were in Madison, Wisc., on the same Thomas Zimmer Championships Course that will host the NCAA nationals on Nov. 23.
At the Nuttycombe, junior Maeve Stiles (eighth) and junior Julia David-Smith (12th) led Washington to a winning total of 110 points, a 29-point gap on second-place Utah. On that day, Washington finished atop a field that included 14 schools ranked in the top 30 nationally, and six (in addition to UW) from the Big Ten. All five Husky scorers broke the 21-minute mark for 6,000 meters. Stiles was fastest of that group in 20:17.
At Pre-Nationals, the times were even faster, and the only team ahead of the No. 3-ranked Huskies was No. 2 Brigham Young. The Cougars tallied 105 points; Washington had 157. That left the Huskies ahead of (among others) No. 1 Northern Arizona, No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 5 North Carolina State. This time, it was junior Chloe Foerster at the front of the purple pack, finishing 16th in 19:50. The next five Huskies behind were within 25 seconds of Foerster.
The Washington men also came through with a strong run at Nuttycombe. They were fifth with 246 points and had the highest finish among the three Big Ten representatives. Sophomore Tyrone Gorze and senior Leo Daschbach has essentially a photo finish across the line. Both clocked 23:59; Gorze wound up 27th and Daschbach 28th.
Ronan McMahon-Staggs was the UW front runner at Pre-Nationals, placing 82nd and leading the Huskies to 24th place.
Pointing toward postseason, the Huskies competed at the Big Ten Championships on Nov. 1 in Champagne, Ill.; the West Regionals on Nov. 15 across the Cascade Mountains in Colfax, and then back in Wisconsin for Nationals on Nov. 23.
Follow the postseason meets at GoHuskies.com.
Continued on page 28
LEO Daschbach
TYRONE Gorze
MADI Endsley
CHLOE Foerster
Midseason notables
FOOTBALL
Defeated No. 10 Michigan in front of a sold out crowd at Husky Stadium amidst a 19-game home win streak.
VOLLEYBALL
At 14-4 overall and 4-4 in Big Ten play, Huskies have 12 matches remaining to make their case for a spot in the 64-team NCAA field. Those 12 remaining matches include seven against teams in the top 25 that was released on Oct. 21.
CROSS COUNTRY
Both teams placed second at Big Ten Championships. The West Regionals are in Colfax, about an hour south of Spokane, on Friday Nov. 15. The NCAAs are Sat., Nov. 23, in Madison, Wisc.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
10-6-3 overall, 7-4 Big Ten. Washington advanced to the Big Ten semifinals and earned its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2020-21 season.
MEN’S SOCCER
Qualified for first Big Ten Tournament and advanced to semifinals before falling to No. 1 Ohio State. All eyes on NCAA postseason play.
Women’s Soccer: Huskies play nets postseason bid
Washington’s first women’s soccer season in the Big Ten will be continuing into the postseason.
With one game to go on the schedule, the Huskies had played themselves into the conference tournament. Heading into the finale at home against rival Oregon on Oct. 27, UW was sitting in sixth place with a chance to move a spot or two higher. The top 10 teams qualify for the tournament, and nobody outside of the top 10 with just one game to go had any mathematical chance of climbing into the playoff picture.
Washington won six of its first 10 conference games. That included a 2-1 victory against then-No. 5 Michigan State at Husky Soccer Stadium. The Huskies effectively secured a tournament berth on Oct. 20 with a 2-0 win at Nebraska as junior goalkeeper Mia Hamant put her sixth shutout of the season into the books.
While Hamant was keeping balls out of the UW net, senior forward Ioanna Papatheodorou was putting them in at the other end of the field. She had tallied a team-leading eight as the Huskies brought a 9-5-2 overall record and a 6-4-0 Big Ten mark into the final regular-season weekend.
Men’s Soccer: Respect earned with points against top-25s
As they began navigating through their new soccer neighborhood, the Washington men were not only holding their own, but they were also getting some big results. Those results have brought them Big Ten kudos and respect.
Of their first seven conference games, five were against national top-25 opponents. The Huskies picked up points in three of those: a 1-1 tie at No. 22 Michigan, a 2-0 victory against No. 20 Northwestern, and 0-0 tie against No. 8 Wisconsin. Fifth-year midfielder Peter Kingston factored into the first two games, scoring the equalizer at Michigan, then tallying the first goal against Northwestern.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
GoHuskies.com has complete postseason news, stats and roster information.
But success against top-25 teams wasn’t limited to conference games. Washington knocked off former Pac-12 rival and then-No. 4 Oregon State at Husky Soccer Stadium, 1-0. Just three days later on that same field, the Huskies played to a 2-2 draw against No. 9 Denver. Then, in their final tune-up game prior to Big Ten play, Washington downed crosstown rival and No. 11-ranked Seattle University, 2-1, in front of 2,529 at UW.
Through the first 15 games, Kingston was leading the way with five goals. Sophomore forward Charlie Kosakoff was right behind with four.
PETER Kingston
CHARLIE Kosakoff
UW MEN'S ROWING RECEIVES SPECIAL COMMENDATION
UW men’s rowing program was recognized by the King County Council on Sept. 24 to celebrate their 20th national championship.
To purchase Husky Athletics photography, visit www.HUSKIESPHOTOSTORE.com
