While Jedd Fisch has been vocal about the lack of third-party NIL spending for the Washington Huskies' football program, Danny Sprinkle and the men's basketball team are in a much more dire spot.
According to a report from CBS Sports' Matt Norlander and Isaac Trotter, Washington's roster cost is between $5 and 7 million for the 2026-27 season, by far the lowest in the Big Ten, and one of the lowest among all high-major programs.
That number puts the Huskies alongside Boston College, Colorado, Georgia Tech, Kansas State, Notre Dame, Stanford, and Wake Forest as the lowest spenders in the Power Four. Just four Big Ten teams found themselves in CBS' Tier 6, which is quantified by rosters that cost between $7.1 and 9.9 million: Iowa, Northwestern,
Penn State, and Purdue.
A @CBSSports exclusive w/ @Isaac__Trotter: The most comprehensive investigation into CBB's NIL/money market to date.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) October 21, 2026
We contacted more than 100 sources across the industry to find out who's spending the most, the least, and everyone in between.https://t.co/lgmFMy98io
After spending big in the transfer portal ahead of Sprinkle's second season, which resulted in a disappointing 16-17 overall record, while going 7-13 in Big Ten play, it felt like some of the outside influence in Washington's roster may have taken a step back after top transfer portal acquisitions like Desmond Claude and Bryson Tucker didn't live up to expectations.
"Dramatically," Sprinkle told CBS of how Washington's buying power has shifted. "It's brutal. It changes everything. That's all it is nowadays. In order to retain players -- you see who we lost -- and then to bring players in, you have to have it, or you have no chance, especially in the Big Ten. It's the elite of the elite. You have to get the top players, and there's a cost to it."
The Huskies are slated to open the 2026-27 season on November 2 against Colgate.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington MBB ranked among college basketball's lowest spenders
