Before the NFL, the discovery of the planet Pluto and the building of the Space Needle, the Washington men’s basketball team traveled across the state and played Washington State in Pullman.
The date: Feb. 16, 1910 and William Howard Taft was the 27th U.S. president.
The Huskies won a thriller 13-9 — that’s not a typo — and the next six games in the series before the Cougars took control and captured nine of the next 11 meetings.
The Great Depression, World War I and II, and the COVID-19 pandemic, didn’t stop UW and WSU from playing on the hardcourt at least once every year since 1917.
However, after 301 games, one of the oldest rivalries in NCAA history may have ended Friday night following Washington’s 81-69 nonconference victory against Washington State at Beasley Coliseum.
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The two schools are not scheduled to play next season and when asked about the future of the hoops version of the Apple Cup, coach Danny Sprinkle was noncommittal.
“I have no idea. I don’t know,” he said. “The only stuff I know about next year is we got three tough games (at the Maui Invitational). I know we have Baylor coming back and we go to Utah. I don’t know the rest of our schedule.”
After taking the UW job in March 2024, Sprinkle and WSU’s second-year coach David Riley agreed a two-year deal to continue the long-standing series between former Pac-12 rivals, which was in peril because the Huskies joined the Big Ten.
“We had to keep this thing alive,” Riley, who is a Seattle native, said at the time. “I think that’s something that we’ve tried with all of these Northwest teams is to make sure that we’re doing right by what I think is good for college basketball and playing these local teams is a heck of a game.”
However, in an ever-changing landscape of collegiate sports where long-standing norms are vanishing, preserving the ninth most-played series in NCAA history isn’t the top priority.
Sprinkle, who seemingly has the leverage and controls the fate of the cross-state series, isn’t bound by tradition and focused on getting the Huskies (3-1) into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019.
“If it’s best for our program? Yeah, if it’s not, then no,” he said about playing WSU. “I have to make decisions for UW basketball, and if it is, then great. If it’s not, if it doesn’t benefit us, then (no).
“We’re already playing 15 Quad 1 games in league too. So, there’s a lot of dynamics that go into it.”
Sprinkle is undefeated against the Cougars, including last year’s 89-73 win at Alaska Airlines Arena.
“I love the rivalry,” he said. “I love being 2-0 in the rivalry too. And I’m not taking a shot. I think Coach Riley does a great job. They’re fun games.”
Steinbach, Claude questionable
The short-handed Huskies may be without freshman sensation Hannes Steinbach when they face Southern at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Alaska Airlines Arena.
The 6-foot-11 forward, who rolled his right ankle and was unable to finish Friday’s game against WSU, did not practice Monday.
Senior guard and USC transfer Desmond Claude, who has not played this season because of an ankle injury, is nearing his UW debut.
Sprinkle said both are game-time decisions.
“We’re still a little banged up. We’re not sure about his availability,” Sprinkle said while referencing Steinbach, who averages 14.5 points and 12.8 rebounds. “Desmond we will see. He did some of the walk-through stuff (Monday), so hopefully we can get him back at some point.”
Washington is also without sophomore forward Bryson Tucker (ankle), sixth-year forward Jacob Ognacevic (foot), junior Mady Traore (foot), and sophomore forward Christian Nitu who is not with the team because of undisclosed reasons.
If Steinbach and Claude are unavailable, the Huskies will have just eight healthy scholarship players.
“It’s just fluke deals,” Sprinkle said. “Hopefully, we’re getting them all out of the way in October and November. I’ve never been through anything like this.”
Percy Allen: pallen@seattletimes.com. Percy Allen is a sports reporter for The Seattle Times, where he writes about the University of Washington Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams and the Seattle Storm.