Albert Schweitzer Tournament

Albert Schweitzer Tournament (AST)

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

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. ↑ "AST 2016: Deutschland erstmals Turniersieger!". basketball-bund.de. German Basketball Federation. 2 April 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  7. ↑ AST-basketball.de Magic Johnson was a part of AST in 1975.
  8. ↑ 2000 Albert Schweitzer Tournament.
  9. ↑ "Kostja Mushidi ist MVP des AST 2016". basketball-bund.de (in German). German Basketball Federation. 2 April 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.

External links

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