The Washington Huskies men's basketball team entered the 2026 NBA Draft on Tuesday with 17 players selected in the first round in the program's history.

An 18th player was added to that list of players Tuesday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Forward Hannes Steinbach was selected with the 14th overall pick by the Charlotte Hornets. Steinbach was the final lottery pick of the draft.

Steinbach was recruited by Huskies head coach Danny Sprinkle out of Germany and was one-and-done with UW.

Steinbach's arrival to Montlake didn't lead to tournament success for Washington, who finished 16-17 overall last year, but the freshman forward did leave an immediate impression.

The 6-foot-10 big man led the team in scoring and rebounding his lone year in the Pacific Northwest.

Steinbach, who earned third-team All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Freshman honors, averaged 18.5 points on 57.7% shooting (34% from 3-point range) in 30 games (all starts). He also averaged 11.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals per contest.

Steinbach's 11.8 boards per contest was the highest mark in the country. He had 22 double-doubles, which was tied for the most in the country by Duke freshman forward Cameron Boozer, who was selected third overall in the '26 draft by the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Hornets made the play-in last season as the ninth-seed in the Eastern Conference. They were unable to extend their season into the playoffs and were eliminated after a 121-90 loss to the Orlando Magic.

Charlotte was fifth in the NBA in rebounds per game last season (46.1) but were inefficient in creating extra opportunities. The Hornets ranked 18th in the Association in extra scoring chances per game at negative-0.2. They were 13th in the NBA in points per game last season (116 per game) and 25th in field goal percentage (46%).

Having Steinbach on the team should help the Hornets in being more efficient in the pick-and-roll and second-chance opportunities. Adding Steinbach to the rebounding force that Charlotte already has could set it up to have an opportunity to be the best rebounding team in the NBA next season.

Steinbach is the first player to suit up for UW in six years to be selected in the first round of the draft.

The last two first-round picks to play for Washington were current Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart (selected 16th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers) and current Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (drafted 28th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers).

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