Washington season preview: Hannes Steinbach leaves a big gap

Where last season ended

Washington finished 16-17 overall and 7-13 in the Big Ten, 12th in the conference. Danny Sprinkle coached the Huskies. Washington beat USC 83-79 on March 11 at a neutral site, then lost 82-85 to Wisconsin on March 12 at a neutral site. Sports-Reference lists no NCAA Tournament game for Washington.

Who is gone

Hannes Steinbach, a freshman forward, averaged 18.5 points and 11.8 rebounds, the top scoring and rebounding averages on the team. Zoom Diallo averaged 15.7 points and 4.5 assists. Desmond Claude averaged 13.3 points. Quimari Peterson (9.2 points), Franck Kepnang (6.2 points, 6.3 rebounds), Bryson Tucker (5.7 points) and JJ Mandaquit (5.2 points) are also not on the 2026-27 roster. The averages come from Sports-Reference. The sources give no reasons for any departure.

Who is back

Wesley Yates III, a fourth-year guard, averaged 12.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in 2025-26, the highest returning scoring average on the 2026-27 roster. BJ Roy (second-year guard), Jasir Rencher (second-year forward, 3.0 points), Lathan Sommerville (third-year center, 4.3 points) and Nikola Dzepina (second-year forward) also return. Mady Traore (fifth-year forward) is on the roster too.

Who is new

Six transfers joined: Ryan Beasley (fourth-year guard, San Francisco), Parker Friedrichsen (fourth-year guard, Wake Forest and Davidson), LeJuan Watts (fourth-year guard, Eastern Washington, Washington State and Texas Tech), Steele Venters (guard/forward, Eastern Washington and Gonzaga), Tayshawn Comer (fifth-year guard, Eastern Kentucky, Evansville and Nevada) and Harun Zrno (second-year guard, from Rutgers). Zrno averaged 6.5 points for Rutgers in 2025-26, according to Sports-Reference.

The freshman class is listed below.

Incoming freshmen

Washington adds three first-year players, and two of them come from outside the United States. Lat Ford is the only one with a 247Sports national rank in the sources checked.

• Lat Ford (Lattimore Ford on 247Sports), guard/forward, 6-7, from Mount Si High School, Renton, Wash. No. 191 in 247Sports national rank.
• Tristan Devers, guard, 6-4, from Brisbane Bullets, Melbourne, Australia.
• Wini Braga, forward, 6-9, from Minas Tênis Clube, Altamira, Brazil.

The number to know

Offensive rating measures points scored per 100 possessions. Washington's offensive rating was 112.2 in 2025-26, 123rd of 365 teams on Sports-Reference, across 33 games. The figure shows efficiency only. It does not show which players produced it, and the roster has changed by nine players since. Washington's defensive rating was 107.1, which ranked 190th.

Questions for this season

Who replaces Steinbach's scoring and rebounding? He averaged 18.5 points and 11.8 rebounds, and the sources show no other returner close to those numbers.

How fast do nine newcomers fit the rotation? Six transfers and three first-years join a roster that returns Yates, Roy and Sommerville.

Can Yates keep scoring at 12.7 points? He is the one returner with a clear scoring average from 2025-26.

Our early read

Middle of the pack (10th-13th) is our call. Washington keeps Yates, Roy and Sommerville, but it loses Steinbach, who led the team in points and rebounds. The team's 112.2 offensive rating ranked 123rd, so the offense needs the newcomers to help quickly. The Columbus Dispatch preseason media poll ranked Washington 15th, just below this tier. We project the Huskies 13th.