Inside The Huskies

Husky-To-Be Steinbach Continues His U19 World Cup Dominance

The German player bound for the UW had 23 points and 19 rebounds against Serbia.
Dan Raley|
Hannes Steinbach had a fourth consecutive strong World Cup outing.
Hannes Steinbach had a fourth consecutive strong World Cup outing. | UW

Hannes Steinbach continues to rule the world, now showing Serbia what Slovenia, China and Canada already knew..

The 6-foot-9 forward from Germany -- and soon headed to Seattle, the University of Washington and the Big Ten -- is really good with a basketball in his hands. On an international stage, his game knows no boundaries, no borders.

Steinbach literally has been unstoppable, a Montlake monster in the making.

On Wednesday at the FIBA U19 World Cup, the teenaged Steinbach turned in his best performance yet by scoring 23 points and grabbing 19 rebounds in a 92-83 victory over the Serbs in Lausanne, Switzerland.

With Husky assistant coach Andy Hill watching his every move in person, Steinbach connected on 7 of 12 shots from the field and all nine of his foul shots as he helped advance his team into the quarterfinals of the week-long event.

For good measure, he chipped in a pair of assists and blocked a shot as the Germans ran their tournament record to 4-0.

Steinbach, who was born the same year in 2006 that Brandon Roy was a senior and the UW's most dominating modern-day player, is averaging 18.2 points and 13 rebounds per game.

His 23 points against Serbia were an event best for him and his 19 rebounds tied his performance in his World Cup opener against Slovenia.

One European basketball analyst, who goes by Can Peker Pekcan, singled out Steinbach for his aggressiveness, particularly on the boards, and for generating second-chance points.

"He's one of the best prospects in the tournament and will make an immediate impact in the NCAA," he posted on social media

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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