Washington Men’s Basketball Opens Season Monday Versus Colgate

SEATTLE – The Washington men's basketball team kicks off the 2026-27 regular season Monday night at Alaska Airlines Arena, hosting Colgate for a 7:00 p.m. PT tipoff.

Monday's opener will be available for streaming through B1G+. Nick Koop and Ryan Appleby will have the call on your radio dial on 950 KJR-AM. Full links to live coverage are available on the schedule page at GoHuskies.com.

OPENING TIPS
» Washington begins its third season in the Big Ten and third season under Danny Sprinkle
» The Huskies feature a new-look roster with six returners from the 2025-26 season and nine newcomers
» UW's bench also has a new look with the addition of three new assistant coaches
» Monday's opener will be the first meeting between Washington and Colgate and UW's first game against a Patriot League opponent since opening the 2012-13 season against Loyola-Maryland
» In that game, now Husky assistant coach Abdul Gaddy scored 17 points for UW
» It is the sixth-straight season Washington will open the season on its home floor
» The Huskies have won four-straight season openers
» In UW's two exhibition games, transfer LeJuan Watts has led the Huskies in scoring at 22.0 PPG
» Second year Nikola Dzepina posted a double double in UW's exhibition with Washington State, finishing with 16 points and 12 rebounds

ABOUT COLGATE
» Colgate head coach Matt Langel is in his 16th season in Hamilton, guiding the Raiders to five of the program's seven all-time NCAA Tournament bids
» Langel is the only five-time Patriot League Coach of the Year in the conference's history, having led CU to five conference regular season championships
» The Patriots were picked to finish third in the Patriot League Preseason Poll, tied with Boston University
» The Raiders will be tasked with replacing First Team All-Patriot League guard Jalen Cox, who transferred to USC after averaging 17.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game
» Colgate returns 2025-26 Patriot League Rookie of the Year and 2026-27 Preseason All-Patriot League selection Andrew Alekseyenko
» A second team all-conference forward a year ago, Alekseyenko led the Raiders in rebounding as a freshman at 6.7 per game, adding 14.8 points per game
» Alekseyenko finished the season with 18-consecutive double doubles
» The Raiders return two more starters from last season's team in senior forward Sam Wright and junior guard Josh Ahayere

GRAND OPENING
» Washington is 95-31 all-time in season-openers
» The Huskies have won 24 of the last 30 openers, including 16 of the last 20 and seven of the last 10
» Monday's game will mark the sixth-straight season the Huskies have started the season at Alaska Airlines Arena
» In last season's season-opening game, Washington started in dominating fashion, nearly doubling up UAPB by a 94-50 score
» Five different Huskies scored in double figures
» Wesley Yates III knocked down 4-of-8 attempts from the field, filling the stat
sheet with 14 points, four rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block
» Lathan Sommerville debuted for the Dawgs with nine points off the bench, converting 7-of-8 from the charity stripe and grabbing five boards

VET SCHOOL
» Washington rebuilt its roster during the offseason with several veteran additions
» The Huskies' six college transfers bring 22 seasons of combined experience with 571 career games and 362 career starts
» That group has totaled 5,667 points, 1,675 rebounds and 1,287 assists
» Washington added three 1,000 point career scorers in Tayshawn Comer, LeJuan Watts and Steele Venters
» Ryan Beasley is just 81 points from reaching 1,000 career points
» Washington also added two players with three seasons of professional experience overseas apiece in Wini Braga and Tristan Devers
» UW's 15 players have an average age of 21.1 years

NEW LOOK DAWGS
» Washington returns six of 16 players from its 2025-26 roster
» Of those six players, only two appeared in 15 or more games in Wesley Yates III and Lathan Sommerville

WASHINGTON RETURNING PRODUCTION
Category	Total	Returning	Lost
Points	2,545	505 (19.8%)	2,040 (80.2%)
Field Goals	929	106 (11.4%)	823 (88.6%)
3-Point FG	221	65 (29.4%)	156 (70.6%)
Free Throws	466	104 (22.3%)	362 (77.7%)
Rebounds	1,229	154 (12.6%)	1,075 (87.4%)
Assists	459	51 (11.1%)	408 (88.9%)
Steals	189	43 (22.8%)	146 (77.2%)
Blocks	137	29 (21.2%)	108 (78.8%)

EURO STEP
» Second year forward Nikola Dzepina spent the bulk of the summer player for his home nation of Serbia at the 2026 FIBA U20 Eurobasket
» Dzepina guided Serbia to the Silver Medal, leading the team in scoring (13.9 PPG) and rebounding (6.6 RPG), while also dishing out 2.3 assist per game
» Dzepina ranked 10th in the tournament in rebounding and 14th in scoring
» The Belgrade native opened the tournament with a double double versus Poland, dropping 21 points and 13 boards in addition to three assists and three blocks
» Dzepina followed with 20 points versus Latvia in the group stage, knocking down 6-of-8 shots including 2-of-3 from behind the arc, also grabbing eight rebounds
» In the Gold Medal game, Dzepina scored came just shy of his second double double of the tournament with 10 points and nine boards
» Following the tournament, Dzepina was also called into Serbia's Senior National Team for training camp, playing alongside NBA MVP Nikola Jokic

HERE TO ASSIST
» Washington enters 2025-26 with a new-look assistant coaching staff with the addition of three assistant coaches who total 65 years of experience
» The trio have combined for 12 conference championships, 14 NCAA Tournament bids, five Sweet 16s, three Elite Eights, two Final Fours, two NBA conference championships and one NBA Championship
» Washington is DeAndre Haynes' third stop in the Big Ten, having won league championships at both Maryland and Michigan
» Haynes helped the Wolverines to the Final Four and an NCAA runner up finish during the 2017-18 season
» Having spent the last 12 seasons at Oregon, Mike Mennenga's time in Eugene saw the Ducks achieve unprecedented success with seven conference championships, seven NCAA Tournament berths, four Sweet 16s, two Elite Eights and the 2017 Final Four
» An NBA veteran with 25 seasons in the Association, Charles Klask has worked under some of the most respected coaches in the league, including Rick Carlisle, Doc Rivers, Jason Kidd, Stan Van Gundy and Mike Malone
» Klask sat on the bench for seven seasons with the Denver Nuggets, helping the organization capture its first-ever NBA Championship in 2023 and serving as Denver's Summer League head coach in 2021

INTERNATIONAL FLAIR
» Washington is one of 19 teams in the nation with five or more nations other than the United States represented on its roster
» The Huskies' roster spans the globe, from Australia to Bosnia and Herzegovina to Brazil to France to Serbia
» There are just six teams that have more countries represented than Washington, with Utah being the only team at the Power Five level
» UT Martin leads the nation with 10 different international countries represented on its roster

MONTLAKE MAGIC
» Over the last 21 seasons, Washington is 250-101 (.712) at Alaska Airlines Arena
» UW posted a 10-6 record at home in 2025-26, including a perfect 6-0 during non-conference play
» The Huskies have posted a winning record at home in 18 of those 21 seasons, registering double-digit home wins 17 times
» UW has posted at least a .600 home record in 14 of the past 21 seasons
» Washington has won at least 80% of its home games eight times over the last 20 seasons, including 90% or more three times

For news, scores, highlights and more, download the Go Huskies app on your mobile device. Follow @UW_MBB on Instagram, X, Threads, Facebook and TikTok and subscribe to UW Athletics on YouTube for the latest on the Dawgs.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ryan Beasley

Wini Braga

Tayshawn Comer

Tristan Devers

Nikola Dzepina

Lathan Sommerville

Steele Venters

LeJuan Watts

Wesley Yates III

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