June 21 — The final two games of the Gonzaga-Washington men’s basketball series are no longer scheduled, GU athletic director Chris Standiford confirmed.
When the GU-UW matchup was canceled for the 2021-22 season due to COVID, the schools opted to extend their four-game set with an annual game through the 2025-26 season.
The contract included a clause that if there was a coaching change, any team could opt out and the Huskies chose to “exercise that clause,” Standiford said.
Washington was scheduled to visit Gonzaga at the Kennel this season — one of the highlights of the known games on GU’s slate — for the third game of the series with a return game the following year at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle. Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports was the first to report that this season’s Gonzaga-Washington game was canceled.
Washington made a coaching change after last season, replacing Mike Hopkins, who still had a year left on his contract, with former Utah State coach Danny Sprinkle. Hopkins finished 118-106 with one NCAA Tournament appearance in seven seasons. Washington had a 17-15 overall record, 9-11 in the Pac-12, last season.
“It makes sense to me to have a new coach, enter a new league (the Big Ten) and scheduling philosophies,” Standiford said, emphasizing that he did not know the specific reasons for UW’s decision. “Hopefully we can do something again in the near future.”
Gonzaga dominated the series, winning seven straight games and 14 of the last 15, before Washington rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit for a 78-73 victory in front of 9,294 last December at Alaska Airlines Arena. GU won the previous meeting 77-60 – its fifth double-digit win during its seven-game winning streak – in December 2022 at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Gonzaga, projected as a top-five team in numerous preseason polls, has not announced its full non-conference schedule but has several marquee matchups. The Zags will visit San Diego State and face Kentucky at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, UCLA at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles and two-time defending national champion UConn at Madison Square Garden in New York.
GU also has three games at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas in an eight-team field that includes Arizona, Indiana and Providence.
Standiford said he is hopeful that Gonzaga will add an attractive opponent to replace Washington on this year’s schedule.
Gonzaga will play 18 West Coast Conference games with the addition of Washington State and Oregon State in 2024-25. The Huskies are joining the Big Ten and face a 20-game conference schedule.
