Washington Basketball: 8 candidates to replace Mike Hopkins as Head Coach

Russell Turner

There’s one last name on this alphabetical list, though there could certainly be dozens more names considered. As we mentioned, Washington should look everywhere for potential fits for their program, though we’re including one last successful head coach. Not only has Turner won plenty of games in recent years, but he has worked both in the Pac-12 and in the NBA too.

A former player and assistant at Hampden-Sydney, a D3 college in Virginia, Turner spent a decade as a collegiate assistant at Wake Forest and Stanford. He followed Mike Montgomery to the Golden State Warriors and worked with that franchise for six years. Turner was then hired as UC Irvine’s head coach in 2010, his first head coaching job. Turner is on the brink of his seventh regular season title with the Anteaters, with a pair of trips to the NCAA Tournament including an upset win over Kansas State back in 2019.

After a few rebuilding seasons, UC Irvine has been in fantastic shape for much of Turner’s tenure, especially over the last decade. That being said, he’s done that success in the Big West and jumping to the Big Ten would be an enormous leap. Turner could very well be successful and does have experience coaching and recruiting in the ACC and Pac-10 after all. He’s certainly a name for the Huskies to consider after all the success he’s had with the Anteaters.

Thus concludes our deep dive into eight potential names that Washington should consider for their head coaching gig. There are a number of other coaches who could factor into the Huskies’ plans, but who do you think will take charge of this program as it prepares to transition to the Big Ten?