How Charlotte-area high school basketball standout went from pickup games to D-I offers

When Trent Steinour was in eighth grade, some of his friends started playing five-on-five basketball scrimmages at local courts.

Still not old enough to drive, they would ride their bikes to Wilhelm Park, North Mecklenburg Park or Bailey Road Park. Being younger, they’d usually find themselves matching up against high school and even college-aged kids.

Steinour, now 6-foot-10 and a standout center in his junior year at Lake Norman, had some strong performances in these pickup games that fueled his confidence on the hardwood. The reigning Greater Metro 4A conference player of the year, Steinour is the only non-senior who made The Charlotte Observer’s preseason Sweet 16 “starting five.”

He’s currently averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds per game for the Wildcats, who have won 10 straight games and are No. 5 in The Observer’s latest Sweet 16 poll. He has nine Division I offers, according to 247Sports, including several ACC and SEC schools.

But despite Steinour’s size and natural fit on a basketball court, he didn’t fully realize it was his favorite sport until those pickup games ramped up in eighth grade.

Steinour’s tennis background

His father, Sean, was a tennis player at UNC and played professionally in Richmond from 1995-2012. He is now the director of tennis at The Peninsula Club, the country club that sits on Lake Norman in Cornelius.

It makes sense that his son would have played a lot of tennis when he was growing up — and he did. There are many pictures of Trent Steinour playing tennis as a little kid, some younger than he can remember.

“Tennis was the first sport,” Steinour said in an interview with The Observer. “When I started playing in the games, it was fun, and that’s what made me want to practice more and work harder. It started right there and was like a snowball effect. Over time, I just want to work harder and see where you can go with basketball, and where basketball can get you. That really excites me.”

Deeper ties to basketball

While his father has always been involved with tennis, the other side of his family has even more ties to basketball.

Steinour’s maternal grandfather, Randy Mahaffey, was a First Team All-ACC player at Clemson in 1966-67. Also a big forward (listed at 6-foot-7), he averaged 16 points and 9.7 rebounds in his four-year career with the Tigers, and was an ABA All-Star in 1968.

Mahaffey is one of four brothers — along with Donnie, Ronnie and Richie — who played for Clemson between 1959 and 1970. Steinour’s mother has two brothers who were also basketball players. There are photos of basketball courts hanging on the walls in Mahaffey’s house, and they always motivate Steinour to make his mark on the hardwood.

Clemson is one of nine Division I schools to offer Steinour. Radford came first, and then Wake Forest, Charlotte and Clemson. He also has offers from South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Penn State and High Point, according to 247Sports.

“When I got my first offer, I was really just in a lot of shock,” Steinour said. “It kind of shook me that I could really go play this sport in college and continue playing. I started working so much harder, and my trainers and coaches have helped me get better every day.”

Looking forward

Steinour, who anticipates playing power forward in college and competes with Team Curry on the AAU circuit, has a key presence down low on the court. He put up 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting in Tuesday’s win over Hickory Ridge, continually posting up his defenders and finding ways to score.

The big man dunked twice during the second half of that game. He slammed one home in the third quarter off a feed from junior guard Josh Yates, and later finished a poster dunk through hard contact at the rim.

“The way he runs the floor, he’s gotten super aggressive,” said Grant Hodges, the head coach at Lake Norman. “He makes plays at the rim, he can shoot the 3. He’s a mismatch; He’s hard for anybody to guard. He can go down low, great post moves and then has the ability to shoot it. He stretches the defense. He runs every possession.”

While it’ll always be his first sport, Steinour is long removed from his tennis days. He’s developed an affinity for the basketball court, developing an appreciation for different aspects of the sport he’s pursuing at the next level.

“I love watching basketball, especially high school basketball a lot, it’s really fun looking at all the top-ranked players and top-ranked games,” Steinour said. “I’m hoping I can be up there one day — and college basketball, I love watching colleges so I can see where I’ll want to go. Basketball’s always a topic of discussion — all my friends play basketball — and everything just revolves around basketball.”