You know your old after covering basketball in Germany for 20 years when you remember a small kid not even reaching your stomach hole and then years later that same kid is a young man towering over you. I have seen countless kids turn into men over the years in Germany. One good example is Isaiah Hartenstein now playing in the NBA for the New York Knicks. I can remember watching him run around the Ost gym in Giessen when he was 10 years old as his dad Florian was playing for the Giessen 46ers. Another great example of a kid I always saw in Frankfurt either in the Fraport arena or BCM training facility is Yannick Von Hain. His career hasn’t had the same route as Hartenstein, but he is grinding to make his mark in basketball in Germany one day. I didn’t only see him in Frankfurt, but also can remember seeing him in Jena at the 2019 NBBL-JBBL youth championships. Over the years, he always got taller and now he stands at 192cm and is 20 years old even if he seems taller to me, because at 1,65cm, everyone seems like a giant that is a basketball player. He recently finished his second season at Aschersleben (Regionalliga) and it will be interesting where he will play in the next season. ‘My ultimate goal is the easyCredit BBL and I think that it is realistic. I will continue to work hard to get there. My next goal is getting to the Pro B. A big role model for me is Kevin Yebo who also reached the BBL after playing in the Regionalliga’, stressed Yannick Von Hain. Yannick Von Hain has that goal of being another Regionalliga player climbing the basketball ladder and reaching the easyCredit BBL one day.

Yannick and dad Maik

Yannick Von Hain who lists Matthew Meredith, The Tischler brothers and Hendrik Drell as his toughest opponents on the floor was born on November 19, 2002 in Bamberg, Germany. He was introduced to the game by his dad Maik who was a big basketball fan himself following the team Brose Bamberg and being a giant fan of Estonian legend Gert Kullamae. He began to play the game at age 4 and played for TSV Burgwindheim. It is usual that kids follow what the parent does and in the case of his dad Maik who is a massive Boston Celtics fan, it wasn’t a surprise that he began to like that team most and followed guys like Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Larry Bird with great zeal. As the years went on and he got older, his favorite player became NBA superstar in the making Jayson Tatum. His family then made the move to Frankfurt in 2012. He then played for TSG Sulzbach for the U-12 and U-14 teams and also played a season with Eintracht Frankfurt and practiced with future easyCredit BBL player Len Schoormann. He remembers sitting in the fan block for his first Skyliners game in the 2012-2013 season and overall has fond memories growing up and watching the Fraport Skyliners compete. ‘I will never forget when I was a ball boy at a game. I also will never forget seeing the team being honored at the Romer in Frankfurt after they won the 2016 Fiba Europe Cup. I always enjoyed watching Phil Scrubb and got a pair of his shorts from him. I also enjoyed watching Quantez Robertson. I have so memories of Tez on the court. I remember practicing with him during an open practice and taking photos’, said Yannick Von Hain.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber and Maik on the Main river in Frankfurt Germany summer 2019

The guard who lists Arne Makowka, Leo Alban, Patrick Lyons, Leon Hoppe and Bruno Albrecht as his best 5 teammates of all-time then decided to make a change in his career. He was 15 years old and headed to the former East Germany. He wanted to play JBBL U-16 ball and wasn’t happy in Frankfurt. The plan was to go to Jena, because his ex coach from TSG Sulzbach Stefan Frost was there, but that didn’t pan out as there were issues with school. But Frost then recommended him to the Niners Chemnitz program and that is where he ended up in late summer 2018. He was very young at age 15, and made the jump to also play with the NBBL U-19 team, but only played sporadically as he focused more on the JBBL U-16 team. He played 12 NBBL games averaging 3,6ppg and 1,3rpg. ‘I was a shooter coming in. I came in whenever the team needed a three pointer. I only played a few minutes, but when there were injuries I would play a few more minutes’, remembered Yannick Von Hain. He was teammates with young German Bruno Albrecht who over the years has made a steady development going to Ehingen, the Dragons Rhondorf and this season was one of the top German guards in the Pro B with the White Wings Hanau. ‘Bruno was like a mentor for me. We are still friends today. He always helped me. He was already a leader at a young age. He was so important for the team’, remembered Yannick Von Hain. His best game in his first season in Chemnitz was netting 12 points on 3 three’s. In his second season, he made a huge jump averaging 15.1ppg, 3.6rpg, 1.4apg, 1.8spg, FGP: 46.2%, 3PT: 40.0%, FT: 16.7%. ‘That was a important season for me. I improved my shot and drive and simply became more versatile. I also improved my defense which sparked my offense. I got more shots because my teammates trusted me more’, remembered Yannick Von Hain. In his second season in Chemnitz, he was teammates with talented big Eduard Roschnafsky who since has become a Eurocup player in Romania. ‘It surprised me that he went to Romania, but also a few years ago when he left Chemnitz for Ludwigsburg. He had already been training with the Chemnitz Pro A team and may have made their roster there in time. He is a big talent that is very athletic for his size’, stressed Yannick Von Hain. In his first few years in Chemnitz, he also got additional experience playing with the Chemnitz Regionalliga 2 team thus getting introduced to the men’s game. It was a big adjustment for him, but in his second season he was more used to it and was able to adjust well to the more physical level. His head coach Michael Wende was vital in his development as a young player. ‘He gave me a lot of trust and really helped me a lot mentally. He always kept me motivated and taught me how to lose. Plus he was always prepared to work extra shifts with me on the court to help my game get better’, warned Yannick Von Hain. He had some huge games in his second season scoring 29 points against Munster, 25 points against MBC-Moscow and 23 points against Goettingen. Then in 2020-2021 Covid reared it’s ugly head into the world and effected so much including basketball as the NBBL and Regionalliga seasons were cancelled. ‘At first we couldn’t do anything. Coaches ran zoom conferences so we could do athletic exercises at home. A plus for me was that I was able to practice with the easyCredit BBL team twice a day’, remembered Yannick Von Hain.

The sniper who has Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Lebron James and Kareem Abdul Jabbar on his personal NBA Mount Rushmore was ready again for a change and moved to the BG Aschersleben Tigers (Regionalliga) in 2021. ‘I had finished school in Chemnitz and wanted to play in a higher league. Chemnitz only offered me to keep playing for their Regionalliga 2 team. I had try outs with Stade and Hanau, but then I elected to go to Aschersleben, because they really liked my game’, said Yannick Von Hain. Off the court, he helped in the Aschersleben office while also training the U-12 and U-14 teams and helped organize basketball camps. In his first season he averaged 14 minutes while averaging 5.6ppg, 1.3rpg, FGP: 42.1%, 3PT: 36.4%, FT: 75.0%. ‘The first season went a lot better than I thought. I played a lot more minutes then I thought I would. I improved my 1-1 defense, shot and got stronger physically’, stated Yannick Von Hain. That season he scored in double figures in 5 games including 17 points against Stade, but his most memorable game was hitting Bergedorf for 20 points in a 41 point win and hitting 6/7 three’s. ‘I had been injured and that was my comeback. I was motivated and felt good. I only got open shots. My self confidence grew with every shot and my teammates just told me to keep shooting’, remembered Yannick von Hain. The season was a magical one with Irish player Patrick Lyons as they upended Stade in the playoffs and lost a tough final series to Vechta. ‘Patrick was always positive. He was captain and my roommate. Not all the players were happy with the coach, but he always kept the team together. He always had us playing as a team which was key for our success. We won the first game by 2 and then lost by 15 games. We had a team meeting after the game 2 loss and decided to take away 3 things from Stade in game 3. We did that and went on a 10-0 run which carried us all the way to the win. It was a tough finals as we lost both games by 2 points. In the last game we had 3 guys fouled out and I took the last shot that missed’, stated Yannick Von Hain. Just like in Chemnitz, he made another big jump n his second season as his minutes rose from 14 to 26 as he averaged 10,4ppg, and 3,1rpg while shooting 33% from down town. The season ended on a sour note as the team failed to make the playoffs. ‘I incorporated my drive more into my game and also searched for body contact and got to the free throw line more. My shot selection also got better’, said Yannick Von Hain. Often in the Regionalliga you witness older German guys still playing the game they love while not having to strain their body at a high level. One of those guys was long time German second Bundesliga big man Sebastian Harke who was still playing at age 41 and was already playing professional ball before the young German was alive. ‘I really liked playing with him. We had a good relationship and harmonized well. He took all of us with him with his energy and always motivated us’, expressed Yannick Von Hain.

The 192cm guard who is represented by Weller Sports loves to watch Boston Celtics games and it is not surprising that he has found a Boston player to whom he can compare his game to. He likes watching Sam Hauser who has sparkled in Boston with his shooting while coaches have told him his game is similar to ex Alba Berlin sniper Marcus Eriksson. But if one thinks all he is is a spot up shooter then you will be surprised. ‘I like to use my floater and I think my passing is also a strength’, commented Yannick Von Hain. But there are also other strengths in his game that still seem to be a bit off the radar. ‘I think that I defend well and people don’t always see my rebounding qualities’, stated Yannick Von Hain. He knows that in order to be able to continue to climb the basketball ladder, he will have to continue to grind in the lab and continue to refine his game. ‘I working hard on getting stronger. I also want a more stable shot and want to become a better 1-1 defender’, warned Yannick Von Hain. And one person who will continue to stay on his side will be dad Maik who has been there from the get go. ‘My dad has been very important. He always supported me and allowed me to have everything I could for in my career. He is so knowledgeable about the game and has helped me a lot mentally’, stressed Yannick Von Hain. It will be interesting to see where the basketball journey of Yannick Von Hain will go. He is only 20 and only at the start of his career. Wouldn’t be something if he ended up with the Fraport Skyliners one day? His goal is the easyCredit BBL, but for that dream, the Fraport Skyliners would have to get back to the easyCredit BBL