UW Basketball Starting Lineup? It's Steinbach and 4 Others

The recent FIBA U19 World Cup not only matched up a pair of University of Washington basketball players in the championship game, it showed just how difficult it will be for Danny Sprinkle to settle on a Husky starting lineup this coming season.

"There's going to be some hurt feelings," the coach said last week as he envisioned the intense competition ahead.

In sizing up his UW roster, Sprinkle acknowledged how he could open with a taller lineup of three players hovering around the 6-foot-10 level or go smaller using his surplus of offensive-minded guards that he's coaxed to Montlake.

In choosing a starting five based on what everyone knows right now, Sprinkle might have just one clearcut starter at this point with everyone revolving around him.

Hannes Steinbach.

Over eight days in Lausanne, Switzerland, the 6-foot-9 forward from Germany showed why the mock NBA drafts already have him as a first-round selection, rated higher than any other UW player. He's really good.

Much like NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki and former Husky forward Detlef Schrempf were as players, Steinbach is the total German basketball package.

He has an inside and outside game. Where he really excels is he's a rebounding madman, averaging 13.2 an outing over seven World Cup games, which will enable a lot of second-chance points, something the Huskies haven't had for a long, long time.

Another reason to play Steinbach immediately and as often as possible is it appears he'll be in Montlake only for his freshman year with the NBA beckoning. Might as well get as much mileage, or kilometers, as you can out of him.

As for the rest of the Husky starting lineup, it's pick 'em when it comes to a backcourt. How about 6-foot-6 Desmond Claude, 6-foot-4 Wesley Yates III and the 6-foot-1, U19 gold-medal-wearing JJ Mandaquit, two proven scorers and a dish man?