The Huskies added an assistant from their Pacific Northwest rivals and hired long-term Oregon Ducks assistant Mike Mennenga.
The Washington Huskies men's basketball team has spend the entire offseason rebuilding the team after nine spots were vacated following the 2025-26 season.
With only six players returning from last season, the Huskies recently made the final addition to the roster by signing Nevada transfer Tayshawn Comer. Comer's signing came after the team was thought to be at capacity, so there could be one or two more additions to the team before it hits the court for the first time against Colgate on Nov. 2 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.
In preparation for the 2026-27 season, Washington also hired former Syracuse Orange general manager Alex Kline for the same role with the team, and added to the coaching staff to replace its top assistant.
The Huskies lost coaching assistant Quincy Pondexter after he took the head coaching job with the Chicago Bulls' G-League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls. And UW found his replacement in the form of a coach who has spent over a decade with the team's biggest rivals.
Per a report from Chris Fetters of Dawgman.com,Washington hired longtime Oregon Ducks assistant coach Mike Mennenga earlier this week.
Mennenga was with the Ducks for 12 seasons from 2014-26 before he left the program to take a job with the Creighton Blue Jays in April.
While he was with Oregon, Mennenga specialized in player development and recruiting, per his coaching page on the Ducks athletics website. He assisted in game preparation and in-game adjustments.
During Mennenga's tenure, the Ducks won four regular season Pac-12 championships, three Pac-12 postseason tournaments and made the NCAA tournament seven times. Oregon made the Final Four once, Elite Eight twice and Sweet 16 three times in those seven March Madness berths.
Mennenga's hiring also falls in line with Kline's hiring. Both specialize in recruiting and Kline handled Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) as well during his time with Syracuse. While Mennenga was with the Ducks, the program inked four classes that ranked within the top 15 in the country (per 247Sports), including two top five classes.
While he was at Syracuse, Kline helped land notable prospects such as Kiyan Anthony and Sadiq White Jr.
It likely won't be until after the season that the team sees the complete impact of both Kline and Mennenga's additions, but the team is actively recruiting several four- and five-star players in the Class of '27, and the pair could help tilt the scales in favor of UW.
Before that happens, Mennenga will look to help guide Washington its first wining season in the Big Ten and what would be its first NCAA tournament berth since 2019.
