Inside The Huskies

UW's German Basketball Import Off to Sensational World Cup Start

Hannes Steinbach serves up a double-double in his U19 FIBA opener in Switzerland.
Dan Raley|
Hannes Steinbach is shown in his U19 FIBA World Cup opener.
Hannes Steinbach is shown in his U19 FIBA World Cup opener. | FIBA

Danny Sprinkle has called him one of the top two or three basketball prospects across all of Europe.

He's already appearing in NBA mock drafts for next summer.

And on Saturday, Hannes Steinbach, an incoming University of Washington freshman forward, showed everyone he's as good as advertised.

In his U19 FIBA World Cup opener, the 6-foot-9 Steinbach came up with 19 points and 19 rebounds for Germany in a 75-68 victory over Slovenia in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Near the end of the game, Steinbach showed how powerful and explosive he can be by taking a pass behind the 3-point line, dribbling twice and dunking on two hapless Slovenia defenders -- or doing what is commonly referred to as "posterizing."

"That wasn't jelly, that was a jam!" a TV broadcaster excitedly exclaimed.

Steinbach from Wurzburg, Germany, simply was efficient in every manner, sinking 8 of 9 shots from the floor and 3 of 4 from the foul line. He also had a pair of steals.

With so little known about him initially in Seattle, some team followers had figured the big German kid to be a nice add-on to the Husky roster for the coming Big Ten season.

Yet with each additional game, written report and release of game footage, this European talent looks more and more like he' ll be one of Sprinkle's better players for the coming season and starting material.

On Sunday, Steinbach and his team will face China in the second round in Lausanne.

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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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