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.
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.
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. Due to COVID-19, the 2022 tournament was also cancelled.
Results
Performance by nation
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.
Some of the NBA players who have played at the AST are:
Magic Johnson
Eddie 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
Facu Campazzo
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
Vassilis Spanoulis
Omri Casspi
Gal Mekel
Deni Avdija
Yi Jianlian
Patrick Mills
David Andersen
Andrew Bogut
Matthew Dellavedova
Mitch Creek
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: