Washington Huskies Announce New Men's Basketball Announcer

The Washington Huskies men's basketball team saw a lot of turnover top-to-bottom with the program this offseason.

The Huskies saw nine new players added to the roster, a new team general manager in Alex Kline (who joined after having the same position with the Syracuse Orange) and several new additions to the coaching staff.

The changes to the program also extended to the broadcast booth.

In the offseason, Former UW Director of Broadcasting and head football and men's basketball play-by-play announcer Tony Castricone left to take the same role with the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

Rather than hire one person to fill the roles of Director of Broadcasting, men's basketball and football, the university opted to separate the responsibilities.

Earlier this offseason, Washington hired Elise Woodward to take over as head play-by-play commentator for the football team.

On Tuesday, the Huskies announced that longtime UCLA sports broadcaster Nick Coop will take over as Director of Broadcasting and the play-by-play announcer for UW men's basketball.

"We’re proud to welcome Nick Koop to Washington as our Director of Broadcasting and the new radio voice of Husky men’s basketball," UW athletic director Pat Chun said in a news release Tuesday. "Nick brings extensive experience across college athletics, understands the responsibility that comes with this role, and will be a great addition as we continue to connect our fans with the people and programs that make Washington special."

Koop, a California native, attended Boston College and began his professional sportscaster career on the east coast covering games for Harvard and NESN. He has lengthy experience at multiple stops calling football, basketball, baseball and a series of Olympic sports.

Koop eventually returned to his home state of California and has called athletic events for the UCLA Bruins since 2016. His broadcasting responsibilities with the Bruins included: men's and women's basketball, football, baseball, softball and soccer. He also worked as a public address announcer for Olympic sports.

"I’m thrilled for the opportunity to represent one of the richest traditions in college sports and one of the top universities in the world," Koop said in a news release. "Washington has been blessed with great radio voices, and I’m grateful to follow in their footsteps. I’m excited to work with Coach Sprinkle and the men’s basketball program and share stories from all across UW Athletics. Thank you to the school and Learfield for entrusting me with this position. I look forward to earning the trust of you, the fans, as well. My family and I can’t wait to get settled in Seattle and become entrenched within the UW community."

Koop's first game with the Huskies will be the team's next exhibition game against the Washington State Cougars at 1 p.m. PT on Oct. 25 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.