Detlef’s day: How former UW basketball star Schrempf played his way into the rafters

Legendary coach Marv Harshman called him “Rock” or “Rock Head,” and it wasn’t necessarily a term of endearment.

“It wasn’t just me,” Detlef Schrempf said with a laugh. “That’s what he called everybody. It was just his way. He drove you hard to get the best out of you.”

Harshman, who spent 14 years (1971-85) guiding the Washington men’s basketball team, was always toughest on Schrempf, whom he considered the greatest player he ever coached.

“If we’re talking the overall best player, my dad would say it was Detlef because he could do so many things,” said Dave Harshman, Marv’s son. “I don’t think he was great at anything, but he was really good at so many things. You’re talking about the ultimate five-tool player. He could score inside and outside. He could pass. He could rebound and defend.

“I mean, Det was a stretch-three before we knew what that was. Too bad they didn’t have the 3-point shot (when he played at UW) or else he might have set the scoring record. … To be honest, he never really got the accolades that he deserves.”

Until now.

Four decades after his final game on Montlake, the Huskies retired Schrempf’s No. 22 jersey during last Saturday’s halftime ceremony of UW’s loss to Wisconsin.

He became the fifth former UW men’s basketball player to receive the honor and a banner depicting his number now hangs in the rafters at Alaska Airlines Arena next to Bob Houbregs, Brandon Roy, Isaiah Thomas and Schrempf’s teammate Christian Welp, who had his jersey retired last month.

“You don’t start playing basketball thinking or even hoping for something like this to happen,” said the 63-year-old Schrempf, who was raised in Leverkusen, Germany, where he played soccer until he was 13 and he literally grew out of the sport and began playing basketball in the 10th grade. “I didn’t grow up wanting to be in the NBA or anything like that.

“Honestly, I got lucky. I was this kid and found basketball, and things kind of just fell into place for me after that.”

At the time, former UCLA forward John Ecker, who taught physical education at a German high school, introduced Schrempf to basketball and he fell in love with the sport. He also credits German youth basketball coach Otto Reintjes and iconic Centralia High coach Ron Brown for his early development.

After moving to Centralia as an exchange student for his senior year, Schrempf led the Tigers to an undefeated season and a Class 3A (then AA) state championship in 1981.

Initially, he planned to return home when Harshman intervened.

“I was going to go back to Germany. Nobody had a scholarship available because nobody scouted me, then all of a sudden we win the state tournament, and I win the (tournament) MVP and people go, ‘Who is this guy?’ ” Schrempf said during an interview with the Big Ten Network. “Then Marv Harshman comes in. Literally, I was going back to Germany a week later and he says some kid didn’t make the SAT and we have a scholarship if you want it. That was his pitch. So, it all fell into place.”

Schrempf played 28 games as a freshman reserve during the 1981-82 season on a senior-dominated team that compiled a 19-10 record.

The next season, he was one of four new starters for the Huskies, who finished 16-15.

“We had a little bit of a tough stretch with a lot of guys playing that hadn’t played before,” Schrempf said. “I got forced into playing center as an undersized 6-9, 200-pound player at the time. I didn’t really mind.

“It was always about the team, my teammates, winning games and becoming the best player you can be. That’s really where my focus was: ‘What can I do that gives us the best chance to win?’ ”

Turns out, Schrempf had to do nearly everything.

As a junior and senior, the 6-foot-10 forward led UW in scoring, rebounding, assists and free-throw percentage in the 1983-84 and 1984-85 seasons while carrying the Huskies to back-to-back Pac-10 titles and two NCAA Tournament appearances.

“We used to call Det the white Magic Johnson back in the day,” said Shag Williams, a former Husky guard who arrived at Washington with Schrempf in 1981 and played three seasons together. “He could handle the ball as good as Magic and at that size that was something special, because you didn’t see too many big guys like that who could handle the ball. He had great vision and made great decisions.”

When Welp arrived in 1983 and Williams returned from a knee injury that wiped out his freshman season, everything fell into place for Washington, which tied Oregon State with a 15-3 conference record to share its first Pac-10 title.

Washington was the No. 6 seed and toppled No. 11 seed Nevada 64-54 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before upsetting No. 3 seed Duke 80-78 at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman.

“They had Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski), but that was before Duke really became Duke,” said Schrempf, who scored a game-high 30 points on 11 of 14 shooting. “We had a really good team with a front line that was bigger than some NBA teams. We had a 7-foot center in Chris, a couple of 6-9 guys with me and Paul (Fortier) at forward. … And our point guard (Alvin Vaughn) made the game fun.”

The next week, Washington lost 64-58 to No. 10 seed Dayton in the Sweet 16 at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles and finished 24-7.

“We were probably overlooking them a little bit,” said Schrempf, who played 40 minutes in all three postseason games and admitted the Huskies were anticipating a matchup in the Elite Eight against No. 1 seed Georgetown, which won the national title the following week at the Kingdome in Seattle.

Williams added: “We were two wins from playing in the Final Four at home.”

Losing Vaughn to graduation and a public spat between UW President William Gerberding and Harshman put a dark cloud over the next season.

“It was a strange year because of what was going on with Marv and the administration,” Schrempf said. “I wasn’t sure I was coming back for my senior year and before the season I said if Marv doesn’t come back, then I was going to the draft.”

The Huskies captured a share of the Pac-10 title again and secured the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament where they were upset 66-56 in the first round by No. 12 seed Kentucky.

It was the last game for Schrempf and Harshman at UW, which finished 22-10.

Schrempf tallied 1,449 career points, which ranked sixth on Washington’s all-time scoring list at the time and is now 18th.

In 1985, the Dallas Mavericks selected him with the No. 8 overall pick in the NBA draft.

During his 16-year career, which included stints with the Mavs (1985-88), Indiana Pacers (1988-93), Seattle SuperSonics (1993-99) and Portland Trail Blazers (1999-01), he played in three All-Star Games and won the Sixth Man of the Year award twice. He also played in the 1984 and 1992 Summer Olympics.

In 1996, Schrempf, who lives in Bellevue, and his wife Mari established the Detlef Schrempf Foundation, which has helped raised $20 million to support Pacific Northwest children and families.

“He’s a better person than he was a player, and he should be in the (Naismith Basketball) Hall of Fame,” UW coach Danny Sprinkle said. “That’s what type of person he is. He’s a hall of fame person. He’s got zero ego. Our slogan UBUNTU, my success is your success, he’s the epitome of that. He’s always trying to help somebody else. He always cares about his teammates.

“Our players right now … 40 years after he got done playing here, he’s still involved in impacting our guys. And it just says a lot about him and his family. That’s the best honor you can give any athlete is having their number retired. And there’s nobody more deserving than Detlef.”