UW Huskies star putting up unrivaled numbers for freshmen

In what will almost certainly be his final home game, UW Huskies forward Hannes Steinbach didn’t disappoint.

The sensational freshman put on display why he’s a potential lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft with a massive 22-point, 24-rebound performance in the Huskies’ 91-72 victory over the USC Trojans on Wednesday.

Wednesday: Diallo, Steinbach have career nights as UW Huskies beat USC

The performance put Steinbach in a class of his own when it comes to freshmen playing at the Division-I level. According to OptaSTATS, the 6-foot-11 Steinbach became the first D-I freshman in the past 30 years with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and 65% shooting from the field in three straight games.

Here’s a look how each of those games have gone for Steinbach.

• At Rutgers: 24 points, 16 rebounds, 69.2% FG (9 of 13)
• Vs. Wisconsin: 22 points, 11 rebounds, 72.7% FG (8 of 11)
• Vs. USC: 22 points, 24 rebounds, 75.0% FG (9 of 12)

Steinbach is averaging 18.3 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks while shooting 57.8% from the field, 33.3% from 3 and 75.7% from the free-throw line in 27 games for the Huskies this season. He leads the Big Ten and is second in the nation in rebounding. He’s also amassed a whopping 19 double-doubles, a number he could push to 20 when UW closes the regular season on the road against rival Oregon on Saturday.

A Würzburg, Germany, native, Steinbach is ranked as the No. 13 prospect for the 2026 NBA Draft. If he does declare and gets selected in the first round as expected, he’d be the Huskies’ first first-round pick since Isaiah Stewart and Jaden McDaniels, who both were freshmen when they were taken in the first round of the 2020 draft. He’d also be the eighth Husky to be taken in the first round after only playing one college season.

Unfortunately for UW, Steinbach is likely to continue an unwanted trend for one-and-done players to wear the purple and gold. In the previous five seasons the program has had a one-and-done player, it’s failed to reach the NCAA Tournament.

At 15-15 overall and 7-12 in Big Ten play, UW’s only realistic path to ending its six-season tournament drought is winning the gauntlet that will be the Big Ten Tournament.

There is some good news for the Huskies there. They will actually be playing in the conference tournament for the first time during their three seasons in the Big Ten. This year’s tournament will feature all 18 teams from the conference, so the Huskies were going to make it for the first time regardless of the results this season. However, they would have qualified this year under the tournament’s previous 14-team format. The Huskies will be seeded 11th, 12th or 13th when the tournament starts next week at the United Center in Chicago. UW’s first game will be next Wednesday regardless of which of the three seedings it earns.

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