Hannes Steinbach Arrives from Europe, Looks Good in Purple

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Jul 9, 2025 2:55 PM ET

Three days after playing for a world championship in Switzerland, Hannes Steinbach arrived on Wednesday at Alaska Airlines Arena, ready to launch his promising University of Washington basketball career.

The 6-foot-9 German forward covered 5,300 miles, a 15-hour flight or flights, to go from Europe to Montlake, to join Danny Sprinkle's rebuilt Huskies.

Of all of the new UW players -- a dozen in all -- Steinbach is the most intriguing. He's a freshman with no discernible weaknesses to his game. He's already showing up in the first round of NBA mock drafts.

Unlike most players, he thrives on rebounding. The Huskies haven't had a someone like this for 20 years, that since bruising forward Jon Brockman used to throw elbows and break noses in practice while going after the ball unimpeded.

The difference between Steinbach and Brockman, though, is there is much, much more to the newcomer's game.

Steinbach shoots the 3. He drives to the basket. He viciously dunks on people.

And he does it all with sort of an innocent look about him.

Willkommen Hannes!

First look in Purple & Gold pic.twitter.com/7gMt5Tcd9d
— Washington Men's Basketball (@UW_MBB) July 9, 2025

While his Seattle arrival was worth noting, the underlying development here was Steinbach made to the UW without anyone dissuading him from doing so -- which is one of the downsides to a somewhat unregulated college recruiting these days.

Players enter into bidding wars with universities. Ask for their scholarship releases. Break their commitments without thinking twice about it.

The Huskies got in on Steinbach early, made an immediate assessment of his vast basketball potential, signed him without announcing it initially and then watched as the rest of the college basketball world tried to intervene.

At the recent FIBA U19 World Cup in Lausanne, Steinbach easily was one of the best players and earned all-tournament recognition. He averaged 17.4 points and 13.2 rebounds over seven games for a German team that finished as runner-up to the United States entry that had Husky point guard JJ Mandaquit directing it.

"People don't know, but we signed him early," Sprinkle said of Steinbach. "We obviously didn't announce it. It got so out of control late, where every single program in the country, the elite of the elite, tried to get in there. But we already had him signed."

And now the Huskies have him sealed and delivered, too, and eager to see what the upcoming basketball season will look like with all of the talented players on hand, among them this extra talented German.

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This article first appeared on Washington Huskies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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