Hannes Steinbach played what is likely to be his final game for the Washington Huskies early Friday morning. His coach also suspects that the Würzburg native will be impossible to keep. Steinbach’s own words also offer a telling glimpse into the situation. March Madness will take place without Hannes Steinbach—that much is certain—even though the conference tournaments are still underway. The Huskies would have had to win the Big Ten Tournament to still have a chance at making the 68-team field, but they fell to the 20th-seeded Wisconsin Badgers 82-85.
With 25 points and 16 rebounds, Steinbach fought hard against the loss, but ultimately his team lacked the quality. “We’ll do everything we can to convince him to stay,” said Coach Danny Sprinkle after the loss. “The whole city of Seattle should do everything in its power to ensure he plays here for another year.”
That this will happen is highly unlikely; rather, the German is expected to enter the NBA Draft. Various projections have the power forward ranked in the middle of the first round all year, between 10th and 20th. And Steinbach himself chose words that hint at a farewell. “It was a lot of fun playing for Washington.” He spoke in the past tense but did not want to comment directly on his future.
Sprinkle knows full well that Steinbach will be impossible to keep and responded with humor when asked what he would tell NBA scouts about the German. “Not a good boy and a very mediocre player who should probably play four more years of college,” Sprinkle said with a laugh.
Over the season, Steinbach averaged 18.5 points and 11.8 rebounds; no player in the league collected more rebounds than the Würzburg native. In the Big Ten, Steinbach was selected to the All-Conference Third Team and was also named the conference’s second-best freshman.