 | |
| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1958 |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Country |  Germany |
| Continent |  Europe |
| Most recent champions |  Australia(2nd title) |
| Most titles |  United States(10 titles) |
| Official website | ast.basketball-bund.de |
TheDBB Albert Schweitzer Tournament (German:Albert-Schweitzer-Turnier, abbreviated asAST), full nameDBB Albert Schweitzer World Under-18 Tournament (German:DBB Albert Schweitzer Welt-Unter-18-Turnier), is an internationalbasketball competition that is played betweennational teams of the Under-18 men's age category. It takes place every two years inMannheim, Germany, and is contested between teams from 12 countries.
The organizers of the tournament are theGerman Basketball Federation (German:Deutscher Basketball Bund, abbreviated asDBB), and the city of Mannheim. The tournament is named afterAlbert Schweitzer. SinceFIBA 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. From 1958 to 1993, the tournament was an Under-19 age competition. Since 1994, it has been an under-18 age competition.
The first Albert Schweitzer Tournament took place in December 1958. It was contested between eight teams, and won byBelgium. 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,Team USA used players that were the dependents of theUSA's military forces. Starting with the 1973 tournament, Team USA began to use players that were selected from throughout the entire USA high school system.
The 1991 tournament was canceled, due to theGulf War. In 1994, the tournament switched from an Under-19 competition, to an Under-18 competition, and has since been held during even-numbered years.[1]
The USA has won the most titles, winning ten. The USA is followed byItaly with four titles. The tournament's record attendance so far was 28,763 spectators. Due to the spread ofCOVID-19, the 2020 tournament was cancelled.[2] Due to COVID-19, the 2022 tournament was also cancelled.[3] The tournament resumed in 2024.[4]
Country | Winners |
|---|---|
| United States | 10 |
 Italy | 4 |
| Australia | 2 |
| Germany | 2 |
 Spain | 2 |
 Greece | 2 |
 Yugoslavia | 2 |
 Belgium | 2 |
 France | 1 |
 Turkey | 1 |
 Serbia and Montenegro | 1 |
 Poland | 1 |
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 theNBA, and theEuroLeague.[13][14]
Some of the NBA players who have played at the AST are:
Magic JohnsonEddie JohnsonB. J. ArmstrongEddie GriffinLuke BabbittKyle LowryRamon SessionsCole AldrichVince CarterGlen RiceKent BensonKevin GarnettJoseph ForteCarlos BoozerAndre BarrettJermaine O'NealBaron Davis
Tim Duncan
Robert Sacre
Facu CampazzoDirk NowitzkiDetlef SchrempfDaniel TheisPaul ZipserTony ParkerJérôme MoïsoRonny TuriafBoris DiawJohan PetroRudy GobertEvan FournierNicolas BatumAlexis AjinçaPau GasolRaül LópezVíctor ClaverWilly HernangómezToni KukočDražen PetrovićDino RađjaIgor Rakočević
Miroslav Raduljica
Dario ŠarićBruno ŠundovZoran PlaninićBojan Bogdanović
Uroš Slokar
Victor KhryapaAndrei Kirilenko
Šarūnas JasikevičiusDarius Songaila
Arvydas Sabonis
Svi MykhailiukHedo TürkoğluMemo OkurErsan İlyasovaEnes KanterFurkan AldemirCedi OsmanKostas PapanikolaouAndreas GlyniadakisAntonis FotsisVassilis Spanoulis
Omri CasspiGal MekelDeni Avdija
Yi JianlianPatrick MillsDavid AndersenAndrew BogutMatthew DellavedovaMitch CreekIn 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:
Chuck EidsonErving WalkerLamont BarnesChris BurgessKevin FreemanMark KarcherEthan HappIsmet AkpinarRobin BenzingRichard FreudenbergNiels GiffeyKostja MushidiMaik ZirbesJonas Mattisseck/
Ziyed ChennoufiAndrew AlbicyAntoine DiotEdwin JacksonAdrien MoermanKim TillieJoseph GomisMam JaitehJuan San Epifanio "Epi"Albert MirallesQuino ColomJosep FranchPierre OriolaAlberto DíazTomislav ZubčićLeon RadoševićMario DelašToni ProstranAndrija ŽižićMilan MačvanNikola RadičevićNikola RebićDušan RistićMihajlo AndrićStefan LazarevićStefan MarkovićNikola MilutinovBoriša SimanićAleksa RadanovErazem LorbekSergiy GladyrIgors MiglinieksValery TikhonenkoFedor LikholitovAndrey DesyatnikovMikhail KulaginMartynas Gecevičius
Ludde HakansonDoğuş BalbayDeniz KılıçlıEgemen GüvenEnder ArslanKerem TunçeriAntonello RivaPietro AradoriFederico MussiniDino MeneghinDiego FlaccadoriDavide MorettiIdan ZalmansonNikos ZisisCharis GiannopoulosGeorge BogrisVangelis MantzarisLeonidas KaselakisNikos PappasKostas SloukasVlado JankovićLinos ChrysikopoulosDimitris KatsivelisNondas PapantoniouSofoklis SchortsanitisLazaros PapadopoulosChristos TapoutosMichalis LountzisDimitris MoraitisKostas PapadakisCharis MarkopoulosDimitris AgravanisLefteris BochoridisChen JianghuaAndrew Ogilvy
Tai Webster| Year | MVP |
|---|---|
| Kevin Freeman | |
| David Andersen | |
| Charis Markopoulos[15] | |
| Sofoklis Schortsanitis | |
| Ersan İlyasova | |
| Nicolas Batum | |
| Nikos Pappas | |
| Mitch Creek | |
| Nikola Radičević | |
| Ethan Happ | |
| Kostja Mushidi | |
| Jonas Mattisseck | |
| Rocco Zikarsky |
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 |
|---|---|
| Alexis Ajinça | |
| Enes Kanter | |
| Dario Šarić | |
| Cedi Osman | |
 Nicolás Aguirre | |
| Zhu Rongzhen | |
| Tomer Levinson | |
| Boyuan Zhang |
