Christian Steinmetz (June 28, 1882 – June 11, 1963) was an American basketball player. He played forward for the University of Wisconsin from 1903 to 1905. He was college basketball's leading scorer in the game's first 25 years from 1895 to 1920. He became known as the "Father of Wisconsin Basketball" and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1961.
Early years
Steinmetz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1882. He was the son of Chris, a Milwaukee real estate man, and Frances Steinmetz.
Steinmetz attended Milwaukee's South Division High School where he was a member of the school's basketball and track teams. He led South Division to the state high school basketball championship in 1902 and was the state champion in the high jump that year.
University of Wisconsin
Steinmetz enrolled at the University of Wisconsin where he was a member of the Badgers' track and basketball teams from 1903 to 1905. Despite his modest size at and , he became one of the greatest scorers in basketball history. One writer who saw him play wrote: "He was a human dynamo on the basketball floor. Possessed of an uncanny eye for the basket and a bulldog on defense, Steinmetz always seemed to be at the right place at the right time. He was to basketball what Willie Heston (of Michigan) was to football."
Evolution of the game
Steinmetz was credited with being an innovator in technique. In an era when the underhand, two-handed shot was the norm, Steinmetz often used a "one-hander." Steinmetz later recalled that the one-hander was "always good for three or four baskets before they caught on to it." He also had the ability to rebound or catch a pass and shoot while in the air, "a feat that was unheard of in those days." In 1958, Steinmetz told a reporter that the modern game was as different from the game he played as "hearts is from poker." He concluded that the biggest change in the game was eliminating the "center jump," in which there was a jump ball at center court after every score. He noted: "It makes basketball a percentage game. Whichever team is hitting for the best percentage of their shots wins. It used to be that the good team would get the ball again in the center jump and one team would pull farther ahead of the other."
Steinmetz played on the 1905 Wisconsin basketball team with College Football Hall of Fame coach Bob Zuppke and recalled that the game was rougher in its early days: "Zuppke and I played nine games in 10 nights, and were in every minute. Basketball in those days was football for lighter fellows. The officials allowed rougher play. Why, we wore moleskin pants or they would have tore them right off you the way they hung on."
1903 and 1904 seasons
Basketball was in its infancy at the University of Wisconsin when Steinmetz arrived. The team was jokingly called the "squat tag team," had no coach and received no financial support from the university. Players supplied their own equipment, and Steinmetz later recalled the worn condition of the balls they had to use: "We seldom saw a new ball. The ones we used had lumps and corners on them."
In 1904, Emmett Angell became the coach of the basketball team. The Badgers lost to Nebraska 24–22 for the western championship. Steinmetz recalled that Wisconsin lost the game when "a fan sitting right on the edge of the court grabbed our guard's arm and kept him from throwing the ball in as time ran out." Steinmetz noted that they were running a set play in which Steinmetz would break down court, and Zuppke would throw a long, lead pass to him. After the fan's illegal participation, a "free-for-all battle" broke out, and Nebraska was declared the winner.