Haley Van Dyke didn’t want to leave Washington without ever playing in a nonconference postseason game.
That’s why the Huskies’ first-round matchup against San Francisco in the Postseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament 7 p.m. Thursday at Alaska Airlines Arena is so special for the UW standout.
“I’m really grateful for this opportunity, because obviously I hadn’t been given this opportunity yet,” Van Dyke said. “I’m just super excited to have a few more games with my girls. I’m really just looking forward to getting back on the court with everyone again.”
Ideally, every college basketball player wants to play their last game in the NCAA tournament, but finishing her five-year career in the WNIT is more than a consolation prize for Van Dyke considering her previous four UW teams finished well below .500 and never won more than 13 games in a season.
The second year with coach Tina Langley has been a breakthrough season for Washington (15-14), which drew serious NCAA tourney consideration before losing in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament.
Van Dyke is thrilled to lead Washington to its first nonconference postseason tournament since 2017.
“This is the perfect time,” Van Dyke said. “I feel like we’re all finally ready for it. I don’t know if in the past that we’ve been at that point, but this year I really feel like we’ve had program growth to get to that point.”
Two years ago, Van Dyke entered the NCAA transfer portal and was intent on saying goodbye to the Huskies after they hired Langley to replace Jody Wynn.
Former UW player Missy Peterson urged Van Dyke to talk to Langley before leaving and Van Dyke pulled out of the portal and returned to Montlake after a phone call with the UW coach.
“For a new coach that was unusual,” Langley said. “It was a real blessing. Obviously, a lot of trust right away was built between the two of us. We understood who she wanted to become as a person and a player. She understood the kind of program we wanted to build.
“But we just met, so we still had to trust that we would both show up every day and work for those things. Of course, she’s been above and beyond, and we’re so thankful for that.”
After leading UW in scoring and rebounding the previous season, Van Dyke was second among Huskies with 9.6 points per game and third with 5.2 rebounds per contests — and yet still managed to have a greater impact while earning All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors for the third consecutive year.
“Haley is a person who really genuinely loves basketball because it’s a team sport,” Langley said. “She loves camaraderie and the community of basketball. She’s such a giver. It’s the community and culture that we wanted to have here at Washington (and) to have her be that example.
“She’s an incredibly talented player that has continued to grow her game and grow others around her while she’s doing that. Incredible work ethic. She’s in the gym all the time putting in extra time. Just a tremendous example as a person and player.”
Van Dyke is one of 10 Huskies and four seniors including Darcy Rees, TT Watkins and Lexi Griggsby who have never played in a nonconference postseason game.
Since its last outing on March 1, Washington has had enough time to get over the disappointment of a 52-50 last-second loss to Oregon in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament, which likely cost them a trip to the NCAAs.
“We’ve been practicing this whole time,” Van Dyke said. “We’ve been scrimmaging against each other. We’ve been playing a lot of live basketball. I don’t think getting rusty is something that we’re really worried about just because we’ve had so many games this season already.
“A week and half off honestly can benefit us in some way because we had a lot of time to rest our bodies. Now we can come into these games full speed and ready to go. The rest and recovery were really important to us.”
Washington has accomplished several impressive feats this season, including a 72-67 win against then-No. 2-ranked Stanford. None would be bigger than an extended run in the WNIT.
“That’s the goal,” Van Dyke said. “We’re not even (playing) our best basketball yet. I think we still have a lot more growth to have. So, hopefully we’ll have quite a few more games left.
“I don’t think we’ve reached our fullest potential. … There’s been a few games where we have been our best selves. That’s something we’re working towards every day. Showing up and trying to be our best. That’s just a habit that we’re building.”
Langley, who led Rice to the 2021 WNIT title, warns against the Huskies underestimating San Francisco, which finished 19-12 and tied for fourth in the WCC. The Dons lost 69-63 to Washington State and 74-48 against USC in nonconference games.
“Never looking past a game,” Langley said when asked the key to winning the WNIT title. “Every team in this tournament is really good. When we got the field, we (said) this is a really talented WNIT field. A very successful field with a lot of champions (and) 20-win season teams.
“It’s important for us to understand that every team we play has had a similar season to us with great wins and some great moments and some moments that maybe we fell a little bit short. So, every game will be a battle.”
Haley stressed it’s important for the Huskies to let go of any lingering resentment about missing out on the Big Dance.
“There’s no room for us to be upset about that,” she said. “I really think we’re all super excited for this opportunity. We’re not going into it with any regrets. Everything happens for a reason. This is where we’re meant to be at this point.
“We are just excited to compete together with any opportunity that we have. It gives us an opportunity also to compete together again in front of our fans, which is super important for us because we feed off our fans’ energy. We have the best fans and just excited to be back out in front of them.”