Steinmetz enrolled at the
University of Wisconsin where he was a member of the
Badgers' track and basketball teams from 1903 to 1905. 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." 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."
1905 season As a senior in 1905, Steinmetz was the captain of a 1905 Wisconsin team won that all of its games against western teams and claimed the western championship with a 29–24 win over
Amos Alonzo Stagg's
University of Chicago basketball team. The team lost the national championship in a three-hour game against
Columbia in
New York. The Columbia game was part of a nine-game eastern trip. Steinmetz had received advance publicity and was being closely guarded. At
University of Rochester, Bob Zuppke suggested that he take Steinmetz' place at forward to confuse the opposition. After the center jump, Steinmetz joined Zuppke at the forward spot. "We got several baskets before the other team woke up and made the necessary adjustment." Although no such award existed at the time, the
Helms Foundation later selected a
College Basketball Player of the Year for each year dating back to 1905. Steinmetz was named the Player of the Year for 1905. He was the first person selected to receive the Player of the Year award, and 1905 was the first year for which a recipient was selected. ==Later years==