Albert Schweitzer Tournament

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Albert Schweitzer Tournament (AST)
Albert Schwetizer Tournament Logo.jpg
Albert Schweitzer Tournament Mannheim
Sport Basketball
Founded 1958
No. of teams 16
Country  Germany
Continent  Europe
Most recent champion(s)  Germany
(1st title)
Most titles  United States
(10 titles)
Official website basketball-bund.de/albert-schweitzer-turnier
France vs. USA, at the 2010 Albert Schweitzer Tournament.

The Albert Schweitzer Tournament (AST), or "Mini Basketball World Cup", is an international basketball competition that is played between junior youth national basketball teams of the Under-18 age category. It takes place every 2 years in Mannheim, Germany, and is contested between teams from 16 different countries.

Since FIBA World does not organize an Under-18 age world championship, this tournament is internationally recognized and considered as a youth world championship for the Under-18 age group. Originally, the tournament was an Under-19 age category tournament. The organizers of the tournament are the German Basketball Federation and the city of Mannheim. The tournament is named after Albert Schweitzer.

History

The first Albert Schweitzer Tournament took place in December 1958. It was contested between eight teams, and won by Belgium. Hans-Joachim Babies, and the German basketball pioneer, Hermann Niebuhr, asked the theologian and physician, Albert Schweitzer, if they could use his namesake for the name of the tournament. After the second tournament in 1960, there was a break in play until 1966. From that point onwards, a two-year tournament cycle was established.

From 1958 to 1971, the USA used players that were the dependents of the USA's military forces. Starting with the 1973 tournament, the USA began to use players that were selected from throughout the entire USA school system.

The 1991 tournament was canceled, due to the Gulf War. Since 1994, the tournament has been held during even-numbered years.[1]

The USA has won the most titles, winning ten. The USA is followed by Italy with four titles. The record attendance was 28,763 spectators.

Results

Summaries[2]
Year Gold Medal Silver Medal Bronze Medal 4th Place
1958
  Belgium  Austria  Germany  United States
1960
  Belgium  Austria  United States  Netherlands
1966
  Italy  Turkey  Austria  United States
1967
  Poland  Austria  France  Belgium
1969
  Italy  Czechoslovakia  Poland  Turkey
1971
  Yugoslavia  Italy  Poland  Spain
1973
  United States  Poland  Yugoslavia  Italy
1975
  United States  Turkey  Spain  Poland
1977
  United States  Spain  Turkey  Germany
1979
  Yugoslavia  Spain  United States  Soviet Union
1981
  United States  Soviet Union  Bulgaria  Germany
1983
  Italy  United States  Germany  Finland
1985
  United States  Yugoslavia  Turkey  Sweden
1987
  United States  Spain  Turkey  Germany
1989
  United States  Greece  France  Czechoslovakia
1993
  United States  Lithuania  Italy  Greece
1994
  United States  Spain  Australia  Lithuania
1996
  United States  France  Greece  Turkey
1998
  Spain  Australia  United States  Turkey
2000
  Yugoslavia  Greece  United States  Australia
2002
  Greece  Spain  Yugoslavia  United States
2004
  Turkey  Argentina  Spain  Serbia
2006
  France  Turkey  Serbia  Croatia
2008
  Greece  Turkey  Australia  United States
2010
  Australia[3]  Germany Germany Under-17  United States
2012
  Spain[4]  Serbia  Turkey  Germany
2014
  Italy[5]  United States  Serbia  Turkey
2016
  Germany[6]  Serbia  Italy  France

By nation

Country
Championships
 United States
10
 Italy
4
 Belgium
2
 Yugoslavia
2
 Spain
2
 Greece
2
 Poland
1
 Yugoslavia
1
 Turkey
1
 France
1
 Australia
1
 Germany
1

Future stars

The tournament is an important event for professional basketball scouts from around the world. Over the years, many players that have played at the tournament, have gone on to become well-known pro players, both in the NBA, and the Euroleague.[7][8]

Some of the NBA players that have played at the AST, include:

In addition to that, some of the players that have played in various international senior men's professional top-tier national domestic leagues, and that have also played at the AST, include:

Awards

MVP Award

Year MVP
1996
 United States Kevin Freeman
1998
 Australia David Andersen
2000
 United States Eddie Griffin
2002
 Greece Sofoklis Schortsanitis
2004
 Turkey Ersan İlyasova
2006
 France Nicolas Batum
2008
 Greece Nikos Pappas
2010
 Australia Mitch Creek
2012
 Serbia Nikola Radičević
2014
 United States Ethan Happ
2016
 Germany Kostja Mushidi

Burkhard Wildermuth Prize (Most Talented Player) 2006–present

The Burkhard Wildermuth Prize, or Burkhard Wildermuth Award, was first awarded in 2006, and is given to the player in each tournament that is deemed to be the "Most Talented Player". The award is named after Dr. Burkhard Wildermuth, the long-time co-organizer of the Albert Schweitzer Tournament.

Year Most Talented Player
2006
 France Alexis Ajinça
2008
 Turkey Enes Kanter
2010
 Croatia Dario Šarić
2012
 Turkey Cedi Osman
2014
 Chile Nicolás Aguirre
2016
 China Zhu Rongzhen

All-Tournament Team

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See also

References

  1. ↑ AST-basketball.de It all started in December 1958.
  2. ↑ AST-basketball.de Turnierergebnisse (German).
  3. ↑ Schoenen-dunk.de Australien triumphiert verdient (German).
  4. ↑ Nikola Radicevic wird MVP des AST 2012 – Radicevic honoured as MVP. (German).
  5. ↑ US-Boy Ethan Happ ist AST-MVP 2014! (German).
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ AST-basketball.de Magic Johnson was a part of AST in 1975.
  8. ↑ 2000 Albert Schweitzer Tournament.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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