Huskies’ Import Is Sputtering

This is the last season at Washington for another institution, Detlef Schrempf, a native of West Germany, the man who almost single-handedly started the overseas recruiting wave.

Schrempf, of course, is the main reason UW Coach Marv Harshman enjoyed the last two seasons so much. Schrempf’s own recruitment, however, was an accident, or a series of accidents.

And, like Harshman, Schrempf could be having a better last season as a Husky.

Walt Hazzard says that UCLA was approached about Schrempf first but never replied. Schrempf was coached in West Germany by Chris Lee, whose brother, Greg, played for the Bruins.

Chris is said to have told Schrempf that if Detlef wanted to go to the U.S. for his senior year in high school to play basketball, he’d get him situated in Southern California.

Somehow, nothing was done. Schrempf, however, heard about a high school in Centralia, Wash., a truck stop near the Oregon border, which had an established German student exchange program. He went there.

Schrempf, then a skinny 6-feet 6-inches, led Centralia to the state AA title but was written off as a small-school player. His only offers were from schools such as Boise State and Puget Sound, until the Huskies suddenly announced they’d signed him, two weeks after the signing date. The scholarship Schrempf took was supposedly one that another player had turned down.

Schrempf led the Huskies in scoring and rebounding last season and missed the team lead in assists by one. Oregon’s Don Monson nicknamed him White Magic.

But his senior year has been a patchwork of minor injuries and attempts at leadership. The Huskies brought back every starter from last season, except point guard Alvin Vaughn. But Vaughn and Schrempf happened to be the Huskies’ only ball handlers, so the loss of Vaughn hurt.

Schrempf also has other worries. He is concerned about where he’s going in the NBA draft. “It’s getting close to the end,” Schrempf said last week. “It’s an important time for me, to show I’m good enough to deserve to be drafted, or whatever.

“I’ve given up looking at stats. Coach Harshman says, ‘If they really want you, you don’t have to prove anything. They know you can score. You just have to play hard.’

“Sometimes I worry about it. But if I do, it won’t help the team.”

Harshman said: “A lot of times he has a chance to shoot the ball and he tries to pass, to make a harder play. That’s something that star players do. They become overcreative, especially when they’re the best player. They’re saying, ‘When I’ve got the ball, something else is going to happen because I am a star.’ That’s not just Detlef. That’s as old as basketball, itself.”