SEATTLE — Seattle basketball is having a moment.

The Washington Husky men are missing it.

They are an outlier amid the optimism, as a seventh consecutive men’s NCAA Tournament begins without Washington. Meanwhile, the Husky women are dancing for a second straight March, with Tina Langley’s team earning a No. 6 seed. Professional basketball is simmering in the city, with a Sonics return teasing and the WNBA striking a monumental collective bargaining agreement this week. Two of the nation’s top prep players, Tyran Stokes and Oliviyah Edwards, reside in the region as well.

Seattle U’s men — which, by the way, beat Washington for a second consecutive season — also meet Auburn on Sunday in the second round of the NIT.

The optimism is everywhere.

Well, almost.

Washington’s men remain mired in mediocrity, with a single NCAA Tournament berth in the past 15 years. Conferences have changed, coaches have changed, rosters have rearranged. NIL payments and the transfer portal have trampled any sense of order. A practice facility has been paid for, built and polished. But this punishing quicksand continues to consume.

In Danny Sprinkle’s second season, UW went 16-17, including 7-13 (tied for 12th ) in Big Ten play. The Huskies were hamstrung by injuries, as just two players — Zoom Diallo and Quimari Peterson — appeared in all 33 games. High-profile transfers Desmond Claude and Jacob Ognacevic wore purple and gold for a grand total of 12 games apiece. The hobbled Huskies declined an invitation to the eight-team College Basketball Crown Tournament this week. Another season that started with optimism ended as a moment missed.

Speaking of misses: there were so, so many. UW shot just 31.5% from beyond the arc (312th in the nation). For Sprinkle, who set season and career three-point records at Montana State, that marathon of misses must be maddening.

And, to make matters worse, another transcendent talent was wasted along the way. Freshman phenom Hannes Steinbach set a UW rookie record with 21 double-doubles and led the nation with 11.8 boards per game. The 6-foot-11 post has been mocked as a mid-first-round pick.

That’s déjà vu for a program that recently develops draft picks, and precious little else. In 2019-20, a pair of first-round picks — Isaiah Stewart and Jaden McDaniels — went a whopping 5-13 in Pac-12 play. In 2017, Washington went 9-22 with Markelle Fultz, the NBA’s eventual No. 1 pick. In 2015, future first-round picks Dejounte Murray and Marquese Chriss had their Husky careers end in the NIT.

It’s all frustrating, and familiar, for Husky hoops fans — prisoners to a perpetual Groundhog Day.

Sprinkle would know. He was one of them.

“I know how important this tradition is to people,” said Sprinkle, the son of former UW football player Bill Sprinkle, when he was introduced nearly two years ago. “I know how important basketball is in the community of Seattle. Trust me: we’ll feel that pressure every day, and we’ll respond to that pressure in the right way.

“I want to represent every former player. Like I told the team yesterday, we’re not playing just for this team. We’re playing for anybody who ever wore that jersey before us. It’s important to me, and I come with that edge every day in practice. Days they don’t want to practice, I’m pushing them, because Isaiah Thomas would want to push them. I’m pushing them because Brandon Roy deserves that.”

(Roy has made recent news for the wrong reasons, but that’s not the point.)

The point is: you, the afflicted Husky hoops fan, deserve better. There’s no reason this program can’t contend.

Unless, of course, you believe UW is doomed by an impossible logistical puzzle. Earlier this season, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein noted UW, Oregon, UCLA and USC’s conference struggles outside the Pacific time zone, and concluded: “None of these four programs will ever win a Big Ten regular-season title.”

Considering said programs are a combined 68-92 in Big Ten play, the Bay Area News Group’s Jon Wilner added earlier this month: “The on-court results are cause to wonder if their fates will change in coming years or whether the four programs are destined for a life on the periphery — for mediocre records, modest NET rankings and, at best, forever status on the NCAA Tournament bubble.”

I’m not here to minimize the impact of travel miles or the increased competition in a brutal Big Ten. The hurdles are high. It won’t be easy for Washington to cement itself as a consistent contender.

But Washington’s women, who didn’t lose a single player to the transfer portal last offseason, are proof of what’s possible. As are UCLA’s women, who went undefeated in Big Ten play this winter. And USC’s women, who dominated the Big Ten and earned a No. 1 seed in 2025.

Travel miles matter. Talent, culture, continuity and cohesion matter more.

Sure, there are differences between men’s and women’s basketball. It’s not a perfect comparison. But don’t tell me UW is destined for perpetual irrelevancy.

Because, as the missed moments multiply, that’s what you’re risking.

When Sprinkle talked about “How important this tradition is to people,” that importance isn’t permanent. The pressure to perform is a privilege. It means there’s emotional investment. It means people care. But passion becomes indifference without enough wins.

In a city with the Super Bowl champion Seahawks and the AL West champion Mariners, with mountains to ski and water to swim, with more entertainment options than hours in a day, that investment isn’t inherited. It has to be earned.

Sprinkle hasn’t earned it, which doesn’t mean he won’t. The 49-year-old coach can’t be blamed for injuries outside of his control, just as fans can’t be blamed for a fading belief. Sprinkle enters the offseason with plenty still to prove.

Like whether he can retain top talent, starting with Steinbach (a tall task) and Diallo (a local product who averaged 15.7 points as a true sophomore). Or if he can build a resilient roster and culture capable of surviving a Big Ten siege. Or if he can win away from Hec Edmundson Pavilion, after going 6-18 on the road so far. Or if he can inject optimism into a battered fan base that has seen and heard it all before.

With competitive resources and strong recruiting roots, it’s still possible to win big at Washington. Even in the Big Ten. Even in an ethically bankrupt era of college basketball.

But fans won’t wait forever. There’s a price for moments missed.

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