Danny Sprinkle will soon win Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year, as he should. The 47 year-old took the Utah State job last April, brought back exactly zero players who scored a point for the Aggies last season, was picked ninth in the preseason MWC poll but just secured at least a share of the MWC regular-season title thanks to the 25-5 record he’s taking into the weekend.
That’s amazing work.
UConn’s Dan Hurley, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson, Purdue’s Matt Painter and/or USF’s Amir Abdur-Rahim might have something to say about it, in the end. But what Sprinkle has done since accepting the Utah State job is also worthy of National Coach of the Year consideration, and it’s among the reasons the Washington native is considered the favorite to be Washington’s next coach.
He’s been great.
But do you know who else has been great? Boise State’s Leon Rice, who is about to do something nobody’s ever done — take the Broncos to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year. Additionally, if Utah State falls to New Mexico on Saturday, Boise State will share the MWC title with Utah State and the winner of Saturday’s Nevada-UNLV game. That would give the Broncos at least a share of the Mountain West championship for the second time in a three-year span. Prior to this stretch, Boise State’s last conference title came in 2008, three years before Rice took over, four years before the program moved from the WAC to the MWC.
And did I mention he’s doing this with his son?
That has to make the experience even more special — especially Friday night, when Max Rice, the coach’s son, sank a super-long 3-pointer in OT that helped the Broncos pick up a sixth Quadrant 1 victory with a 79-77 win at San Diego State. Max Rice finished with 10 points on seven shots and made SDSU’s final game of the season at Viejas Arena a loss that dampened the mood on Senior Night.
“Nevada ruined my Senior Night [earlier in the week],” Max Rice said. “So I felt like it was my turn to ruin someone else’s.”
Boise State is No. 24 in Saturday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Purdue remains No. 1 for the 18th consecutive day. The Boilermakers will close the regular season Sunday against Wisconsin. Boise State’s next game will come in the MWC Tournament.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
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