Husky Basketball Reportedly Hires General Manager

Syracuse alum is said to be joining Danny Sprinkle's UW program as an organizer.

Alex Kline has been hired as the UW basketball general manager. | Syracus

The University of Washington basketball team has replaced two-thirds of its roster since last season.

The Huskies have done it largely with international players rather than highly regarded high school recruits.

Danny Sprinkle has swapped out all but two of his assistant coaches.

What's next?

The UW reportedly will hire Alex Kline, somewhat of a basketball analytics whiz kid, as the school's first general manager for of any of its athletic teams, with ESPN's Pete Thamel first reporting this development. There has been no public pronouncement from the school just yet.

Sources: Washington men’s basketball is set hire Alex Kline as the program’s general manager. Kline is the former Syracuse basketball GM who previously worked as a scout for the New York Knicks. pic.twitter.com/v1GWSHZRfI

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 10, 2026

At 32, Kline will come to Montlake after two years at Syracuse, his alma mater, and eight years as an NBA scout, four each with the New York Knicks and New Orleans Pelicans.

As an ambitious 14-year-old kid, Kline founded The Recruit Scoop, an on-line site that gained a lot of traction.

The 2016 Syracuse grad since created an algorithm with data analyst Eugene Tulyagijja to build recruiting classes at the ACC school.

"Coach Autry, the staff and I are in lockstep on a process-driven vision that is linear to how NBA front offices construct winning rosters," Kline said when hired by the Orange. "Simply put, this was a life-changing opportunity to impact both a university and community that has poured so much into me."

He might still be at his old school had Orange coach Adrian Autry not got fired in March.

However, Kline had just two seasons and it wasn't enough as Syracuse suffered through a combined 29-36 downturn, Autry was let go and he wasn't brought back.

His UW hiring fits an overall move by schools to bring people in to help manage various aspects of a basketball program.

Primary responsibilities for Kline at Syracuse included scouting and recruiting, former student-athlete engagement, Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) opportunities, transfer portal management, and institutional fundraising.

A year ago, the UW hired NFL agent Cameron Foster as senior director of contracts and cap managment primarily for football.

While acknowledging the UW was going to be a challenge -- now with just one NCAA appearance in the past 15 seasons -- Sprinkle has tried to adjust by changing things up, such as his recruiting approach to older international players rather than teens coming out of high school.

In his two seasons, the Huskies have finished 13-18 and 16-17.

Kline should provide an organizational lifeline to speeding the rebuild process along in Montlake, coming with a fairly solid reputation for being creative.