This upcoming season could be shaping out to be a solid one for a former Washington Huskies men's basketball player.

Forward Hannes Steinbach was taken with the 14th overall pick of the 2026 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets.

Steinbach was assigned to Charlotte's Summer League roster following him being drafted and was immediately made an impact.

The German native put up a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double in a win against the Orlando Magic earlier in the Summer League. 

Steinbach has only continued to prove himself worthy of a lottery pick since. In a game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, he put up 27 points, 15 rebounds and three assists.

Across the entire Summer League, Steinbach has averaged 14.3 points across 23.3 minutes of work in four games on 57.9% shooting from the floor. He's also averaged 8.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists.

Steinbach's efficient outing has come without his shot falling from beyond the arc. He's still yet to make a 3-pointer in the Summer League.

Steinbach's impressive Summer League comes after a solid one-year stint with the Huskies.

Washington head coach Danny Sprinkle recruited Steinbach out of Wurzburg, Germany, where he immediately made an impact in Montlake.

Steinbach averaged 18.5 points across 30 games (all starts) with the Huskies on 57.7% shooting from the field. He also averaged 11.8 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals per contest.

The 6-foot-11 forward's success on the court didn't lead to wins for the Huskies. UW finished the season 16-17 and missed the NCAA Tournament for the seventh consecutive season.

Despite the on-field results not being what Steinbach or Washington would have wanted, the German national's success seems to have established a new recruiting pipeline for the program.

Steinbach was the first of two international commitments last season for the Huskies, with the other being Serbian forward Nikola Dzepina, who joined the team in the winter.

This offseason, Washington landed three international commitments: Brazilian forward Wini Braga, Croatian forward Boris Tisma and guard Tristan Devers. Sprinkle is also attempting to land the fourth international commitment of the class, Slovenian guard Urban Kroflic.

With the departure of Steinbach, the Huskies will be looking to find a replacement for his high level of offensive production from the international players and the various other new additions (and injured returners).

While UW is doing that, Steinbach will be looking to carve out a starting role with the Hornets.

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