Washington Hires Ex-Cal Coach Wyking Jones as New Assistant

Coach Hopkins has finally made the move to replace Cameron Dollar as an assistant coach by naming Wyking Jones to the same position this morning.

Jones was seen most recently as the head coach of the Cal Golden Bears where he was promoted from within after Cuonzo Martin left to take the Missouri job. That tenure went about as poorly as possible at Cal. Jones finished 16-47 (5-31) during those 2 years and was promptly let go to make way for Mark Fox. Prior to that Jones had served as an assistant coach at New Mexico, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, Louisville, and of course Cal.

Before he was promoted to head coach at Cal, Jones worked with the big men and it should be expected that he’ll do so at Washington. This past season it was clear that further development for centers Nate Roberts and Riley Sorn was needed and Jones will be instrumental in helping to spur them to grow as players. During his time at Cal the Golden Bears had a few standout big men such as Ivan Rabb and Kingsley Okoroh.

There continue to be rumblings that Dave Rice will also be on his way out as an assistant coach with Will Conroy as the lone holdover but nothing has been announced on that front as of yet.

Getting the vacant assistant position filled was critical as the Huskies try to navigate the transfer portal. Currently the balance is 6 players out and 1 player in via transfer. Washington will be expected to be in the mix for several players who grew up in the area such as Daejon Davis, Tari Eason, and Emmitt Matthews in addition to others. Putting together a staff capable of bringing in that new infusion of talent will be critical if Hopkins hopes to turn things around next year and remove himself from the hot seat.

Welcome to Seattle, Wyking!