Steinbach Helps Germans Advance to World Cup Finals With 16-Rebound Effort

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Jul 5, 2025 2:22 PM ET

Hannes Steinbach, picking up more basketball admirers with each FIBA U19 World Cup outing in Switzerland, helped steer Germany into the championship game on Saturday with a typical workmanlike 14-point, 16-rebound showing in an 84-72 victory over Slovenia.

For the University of Washington freshman forward, this performance marked the fourth time in six games that he's grabbed 16 rebounds or more.

The Germans (6-0) now await the winner of the United States-New Zealand semifinal game, which, if the Americans advance, will match Steinbach up against his soon-to-be Husky teammate in point guard JJ Mandaquit.

Hannes Steinbach is going to be really good for Danny Sprinkle at @UW_MBB

Good hands and and moves well on the floor. Also ready to compete in the Big Ten from a physicality perspective.

He also looks bigger than 6’9 which is where he’s listed at.

14pts and 16reb today
— Terrence Oglesby (@T_Oglesby22) July 5, 2025

If it's even possible, Steinbach took a much less involved role offensively for Germany, launching just 4 shots and sinking all of them in his second appearance against Slovenia. For the tournament, he's been good on 38 of 56 attempts from the floor, or 68 percent. The teenager also chipped in 3 assists and a pair of blocked shots in the semifinal game.

With each basketball outing in Lausanne, more and more people are showing an interest and sizing up the talents of the UW's prized incoming player, with Terrence Oglesby of Hornets Live noting how Steinbach plays with a high level of physicality and seems to be taller than his listed 6-foot-9 height.

Hannes Steinbach of Germany was listed by organizers as the most popular player at the #FIBAU19 2025 in terms of clicks on the player profile pages on the event websitehttps://t.co/x8s4mCnr2X pic.twitter.com/Z4IOjKOsip
— David Hein (@heinnews) July 5, 2025

Certainly, Danny Sprinkle's promising European player has drawn a lot of attention to himself during the World Cup, with Steinbach drawing more clicks on his event profile page -- 12,800 -- than anyone else by nearly 1,000.

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

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