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Inside The Huskies

Huskies Add Second Basketball Assistant This Offseason

Charles Klask spent 25 years in the NBA as an assistant coach and a scout.
Dan Raley|
Charles Klask, right, has joined the UW basketball coaching staff.
Charles Klask, right, has joined the UW basketball coaching staff. | Klask

With the University of Washington basketball makeover going nonstop, Danny Sprinkle announced the hiring of a new assistant coach, this coming a few hours after he reportedly added yet another international player.

On Wednesday, Charles Klask, an NBA assistant or scout for 25 seasons, joined Sprinkle's staff, the second coaching addition for him in six weeks following the hiring of DeAndre Haynes, formerly of Marquette.

Earlier in the day, Rivals reported that Rutgers guard transfer Harun Zrno was signed, or at least committed, to the Huskies. He stands to be one of four overseas newcomers joining the roster, giving the UW six international players in all.

Klask, 46, was part of the Michael Malone staff that was behind the Denver Nuggets' 2023 NBA championship run.

Yet typical of pro basketball, Klask was one of four Denver assistant coaches let go following the 2025 season when the Nuggets finished third in the Western Conference and was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs.

Everyone has a short memory at that level of basketball.

Klask apparently was out of coaching last season, spending his time in coaching clinics and doing podcasts.

He is considered a cerebral coach who's been invested in finding ways to combat basketball's changing offensive approaches with corresponding defensive moves.

Before spending seven seasons in Denver, Klask coached for six seasons with the Detroit Pistons and one with the Brooklyn Nets.

He served a decade as a scout and video coordinator for the Orlando Magic.

Throughout his time spent in the NBA, Klask has worked for head coaches Rick Carlisle, Doc Rivers, Jason Kidd, Stan Van Gundy and Malone.

Klask is one of those guys who's made a living at coaching basketball while not playing the college game himself. A Michigan native, he graduated from Michigan State, but was not one of Tom Izzo's players.

He joined the Pistons with an internship, became the video coordinator for Carlisle and let it evolve from there.

Once the 2025 season ended, the Huskies had just one coaching change, elevating former UW guard Abdul Gaddy to replace Tony Bland, who was hired by Kansas.

Once this past season ended, Sprinkle had three coaches leave his staff. Jerry Hobbie joined TCU, Tommy Conner retired and Demarlo Slocum is still looking for a new position after an unsuccessful bid to become the Weber State coach.

Klask and Haynes will join holdover Husky assistant coaches Andy Hill, Quincy Pondexter and Gaddy.

 

 

 

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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