UW Will Retire Welp and Schrempf's Jersey Numbers

Celebrating its deep-rooted connection to German talent that's been recently rekindled, the University of Washington basketball program will retire the jersey numbers of Detlef Schrempf and the late Christian Welp during the upcoming Big Ten season.

Schremp wore No. 22, Welp No. 40.

Their shirts will hang from the Alaska Airlines Arena rafters alongside those of Bob Houbregs (25), Brandon Roy (3) and Isaiah Thomas (2).

Ceremonies will be conducted for Welp on Sunday, Jan. 11, when the Huskies host the Ohio State Buckeyes, and for Schrempf on Saturday, Feb. 28, on the day the UW welcomes the Wisconsin Badgers to Montlake.

Schrempf and Welp teamed together during the Huskiea' 1984 and 1985 seasons, as headliners for 24-7 and 22-10 NCAA Tournament-bound teams, and each was a highly decorated player before embarking on an NBA career.

Detlef Schrempf dunks on UCLA in 1985. | UW

The 7-foot Welp, who died in 2015 from heart failure at 51 and was from Delmenhorst, Germany, still stands as the UW's all-time leading scorer with 2,073 points, was a three-time All-Pac-10 selection and was named 1986 conference player of the year. He was drafted in 1987 as the 16th overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers.

Schrempf, a 6-foot-9 swingman who hailed from Leverkusen, Germany, ranks 18th on the Husky scoring ladder with 1,449 points, was twice named as an all-conference player and led the UW into the1985 Sweet Sixteen. He was the selected eighth overall in the 1985 NBA draft by the Dallas Mavericks. He later returned to the area and played several seasons for the Seattle Sonics.

A season-ticket holder, Schrempf still lives in the area and attends UW basketball games on a regular basis.

Each player came to the state as a foreign-exchange student, with Schrempf playing for Centralia High School in southwest Washington and winning the 1982 state championship, and Welp joining Olympic High School in Bremerton.

The late Marv Harshman, a long-time Husky basketball,coach, offered each of them scholarships amid a strong desire to find overseas basketball talent, and he brought in players from Iceland and Canada, and others from Germany.

The Huskies haven't had another international player of their elite skill set until this season when they brought in 6-foot-11 freshman Hannes Steinbach from Wurzburg, Germany.

He currently averages 14.5 points and 12.8 rebounds per outing for Danny Sprinkle's 4-1 team, and his widely thought to be a one-and-done player for the UW.

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