Albert Schweitzer Tournament

The Albert Schweitzer Tournament (abbreviated AST), full name Albert Schweitzer Under-18 World Tournament, is an international basketball competition that is played between national basketball teams of the Under-18 men age category. It takes place every two years in Mannheim, Germany, and is contested between teams from 12 countries.

Albert Schweitzer Tournament (AST)
SportBasketball
Founded1958
No. of teams12
Country Germany
Continent Europe
Most recent
champion(s)		 Germany
(2nd title)
Most titles United States
(10 titles)
Official websitebasketball-bund.de/albert-schweitzer-turnier
France vs. USA, at the 2010 Albert Schweitzer Tournament.

Since FIBA does not organize an Under-18 world championship, the Albert Schweitzer Tournament is internationally recognized and considered an official 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. In 1994, the tournament switched from an Under-19 competition, to an Under-18 competition, and 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 COVID-19, the 2020 tournament was cancelled.[2] Due to COVID-19, the 2022 tournament was also cancelled.[3]

Results
Summaries[4]
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
 FR Yugoslavia Greece United States Australia
2002
 Greece Spain FR Yugoslavia United States
2004
 Turkey Argentina Spain Serbia and Montenegro
2006
 France Turkey Serbia Croatia
2008
 Greece Turkey Australia United States
2010
 Australia[5] Germany Germany United States
2012
 Spain[6] Serbia Turkey Germany
2014
 Italy[7] United States Serbia Turkey
2016
 Germany[8] Serbia Italy France
2018
 Germany[9] Australia Italy Russia
2020
Cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic[10]
2022
Cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic[11]
2024
TBD[12]TBDTBDTBD

Performance by nation
Country
Winners
 United States
10
 Italy
4
 Belgium
2
 Yugoslavia
2
 Spain
2
 Greece
2
 Germany
2
 Poland
1
 Serbia and Montenegro
1
 Turkey
1
 France
1
 Australia
1

Future stars

The tournament is an important event for professional basketball scouts from around the world. Over the years, many players who have played at the tournament have gone on to become well-known pro players, both in the NBA, and the EuroLeague.[13][14]

Some of the NBA players who have played at the AST are:

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

Awards

MVP Award
YearMVP
1996
United States Kevin Freeman
1998
Australia David Andersen
2000
Greece Charis Markopoulos[15]
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
2018
Germany Jonas Mattisseck

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.

YearMost 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
2018
Israel Tomer Levinson

All-Tournament Team

See also

References
  1. "AST-basketball.de It all started in December 1958". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  2. "Albert Schweitzer Turnier 2020 fällt aus – AST 2020 is canceled « Deutscher Basketball Bund". Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  3. FICYMIs Feb 11: Albert Schweitzer 2022 cancelled, Spain, France up in new FIBA youth rankings, youth European draw Feb 15.
  4. AST-basketball.de Turnierergebnisse (in German).
  5. "Schoenen-dunk.de Australien triumphiert verdient " (in German). Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  6. Nikola Radicevic wird MVP des AST 2012 – Radicevic honoured as MVP. (in German).
  7. "US-Boy Ethan Happ ist AST-MVP 2014! " (in German). Archived from the original on 11 December 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  8. "AST 2016: Deutschland erstmals Turniersieger!". basketball-bund.de. German Basketball Federation. 2 April 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  9. "AST 2018: Deutschland verteidigt den Titel!". basketball-bund.de. German Basketball Federation. 7 April 2018. Archived from the original on 8 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  10. Albert Schweitzer Turnier 2020 fällt aus – AST 2020 is canceled.
  11. FICYMIs Feb 11: Albert Schweitzer 2022 cancelled, Spain, France up in new FIBA youth rankings, youth European draw Feb 15.
  12. Nächstes Albert Schweitzer Turnier im Jahr 2024 (in German).
  13. "AST-basketball.de Magic Johnson was a part of AST in 1975". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  14. 2000 Albert Schweitzer Tournament.
  15. HARIS MARKOPOULOS From Matt Blair for HH:
  16. Μισάν Νικαγκμπάτσε, ο Άιβερσον του Ολυμπιακού! (in Greek).
  17. "Kostja Mushidi ist MVP des AST 2016". basketball-bund.de (in German). German Basketball Federation. 2 April 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  18. "AST 2018: Jonas Mattisseck ist MVP". basketball-bund.de (in German). German Basketball Federation. 7 April 2018. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
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