Albert Schweitzer Tournament
The Albert Schweitzer Tournament (AST) is an international basketball competition that is played between national basketball teams of the Under-18 men age category. It takes place every 2 years in Mannheim, Germany, and is contested between teams from 12 countries.
![]() Albert Schweitzer Tournament Mannheim | |
Sport | Basketball |
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Founded | 1958 |
No. of teams | 12 |
Country | ![]() |
Continent | ![]() |
Most recent champion(s) | ![]() (2nd title) |
Most titles | ![]() (10 titles) |
Official website | basketball-bund.de/albert-schweitzer-turnier |

Since FIBA does not organize an Under-18 world championship, the Albert Schweitzer Tournament is internationally recognized and considered a non-FIBA organized world championship for the Under-18 age group. Originally, the tournament was an Under-19 age event. 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.
Due to the spread of the Coronavirus disease, the 2020 tournament was cancelled.[2]
Results
Performance by nation
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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.[9][10]
Some of the NBA players that have played at the AST, include:
Magic Johnson
Eddie A. Johnson
B. J. Armstrong
Eddie Griffin
Luke Babbitt
Kyle Lowry
Ramon Sessions
Cole Aldrich
Vince Carter
Glen Rice
Kent Benson
Kevin Garnett
Joseph Forte
Carlos Boozer
Andre Barrett
Jermaine O'Neal
Baron Davis
Tim Duncan
Robert Sacre
Dirk Nowitzki
Detlef Schrempf
Daniel Theis
Paul Zipser
Tony Parker
Jérôme Moïso
Ronny Turiaf
Boris Diaw
Johan Petro
Rudy Gobert
Evan Fournier
Nicolas Batum
Alexis Ajinça
Pau Gasol
Raül López
Víctor Claver
Willy Hernangómez
Toni Kukoč
Dražen Petrović
Dino Rađja
Igor Rakočević
Miroslav Raduljica
Dario Šarić
Bruno Šundov
Zoran Planinić
Bojan Bogdanović
Uroš Slokar
Victor Khryapa
Andrei Kirilenko
Šarūnas Jasikevičius
Darius Songaila
Arvydas Sabonis
Svi Mykhailiuk
Hedo Türkoğlu
Memo Okur
Ersan İlyasova
Enes Kanter
Furkan Aldemir
Cedi Osman
Kostas Papanikolaou
Andreas Glyniadakis
Antonis Fotsis
Omri Casspi
Gal Mekel
Yi Jianlian
Patrick Mills
David Andersen
Andrew Bogut
Matthew Dellavedova
Mitch Creek
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:
Chuck Eidson
Erving Walker
Lamont Barnes
Chris Burgess
Kevin Freeman
Mark Karcher
Ethan Happ
Ismet Akpinar
Robin Benzing
Richard Freudenberg
Niels Giffey
Kostja Mushidi
Maik Zirbes
Jonas Mattisseck
/
Ziyed Chennoufi
Andrew Albicy
Antoine Diot
Edwin Jackson
Adrien Moerman
Kim Tillie
Joseph Gomis
Mam Jaiteh
Juan San Epifanio "Epi"
Albert Miralles
Quino Colom
Josep Franch
Pierre Oriola
Alberto Díaz
Tomislav Zubčić
Leon Radošević
Mario Delaš
Toni Prostran
Andrija Žižić
Milan Mačvan
Nikola Radičević
Nikola Rebić
Dušan Ristić
Mihajlo Andrić
Stefan Lazarević
Stefan Marković
Nikola Milutinov
Boriša Simanić
Erazem Lorbek
Sergiy Gladyr
Igors Miglinieks
Valery Tikhonenko
Fedor Likholitov
Andrey Desyatnikov
Mikhail Kulagin
Martynas Gecevičius
Ludde Hakanson
Doğuş Balbay
Deniz Kılıçlı
Egemen Güven
Ender Arslan
Kerem Tunçeri
Antonello Riva
Pietro Aradori
Federico Mussini
Dino Meneghin
Diego Flaccadori
Idan Zalmanson
Deni Avdija
Nikos Zisis
Charis Giannopoulos
Georgios Bogris
Vangelis Mantzaris
Leonidas Kaselakis
Nikos Pappas
Kostas Sloukas
Vlado Janković
Linos Chrysikopoulos
Dimitrios Katsivelis
Nondas Papantoniou
Sofoklis Schortsanitis
Lazaros Papadopoulos
Christos Tapoutos
Michalis Lountzis
Dimitrios Moraitis
Kostas Papadakis
Charis Markopoulos
Dimitrios Agravanis
Lefteris Bochoridis
Chen Jianghua
Andrew Ogilvy
Tai Webster
Facundo Campazzo
Awards
MVP Award
Year | MVP |
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Burkhard Wildermuth Prize
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 |
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All-Tournament Team
- 2000:[12]
- 2006:
- 2008:
- 2010:
Jackson Aldridge
Evan Fournier
Hugh Greenwood
Mitch Creek
Philipp Neumann
- 2012:
Nikola Radičević
Josep Pérez
Paul Zipser
Mihajlo Andrić
Willy Hernangómez
- 2014:
- 2016:[13]
Davide Moretti
Aleksa Radanov
Richard Freudenberg
Boriša Simanić
Zhu Rongzhen
- 2018:[14]
References
- "AST-basketball.de It all started in December 1958". Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2014-09-27.
- "Albert Schweitzer Turnier 2020 fällt aus – AST 2020 is canceled « Deutscher Basketball Bund". Retrieved 2020-03-16.
- AST-basketball.de Turnierergebnisse (in German).
- Schoenen-dunk.de Australien triumphiert verdient (in German).
- Nikola Radicevic wird MVP des AST 2012 – Radicevic honoured as MVP. (in German).
- US-Boy Ethan Happ ist AST-MVP 2014! (in German).
- "AST 2016: Deutschland erstmals Turniersieger!". basketball-bund.de. German Basketball Federation. 2 April 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
- "AST 2018: Deutschland verteidigt den Titel!". basketball-bund.de. German Basketball Federation. 7 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- "AST-basketball.de Magic Johnson was a part of AST in 1975". Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2014-09-27.
- 2000 Albert Schweitzer Tournament.
- HARIS MARKOPOULOS From Matt Blair for HH:
- Μισάν Νικαγκμπάτσε, ο Άιβερσον του Ολυμπιακού! (in Greek).
- "Kostja Mushidi ist MVP des AST 2016". basketball-bund.de (in German). German Basketball Federation. 2 April 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
- "AST 2018: Jonas Mattisseck ist MVP". basketball-bund.de (in German). German Basketball Federation. 7 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
External links
- Official Website (in German and English)
- Official Archive Website (in German)
- Albert Schweitzer Tournament History (in English)
- Albert Schweitzer Tournament Stars (in English)
- Albert Schweitzer Tournament Results 1958–2008 (in German)
- Albert Schweitzer Tournament Results 2010 (in German and English)
- Albert Schweitzer Tournament Results 2012 (in German)
- Albert Schweitzer Tournament Results 2014 (in German)