REGENSBURG (David Hein's Eye on the Future) - Every two years at Easter time, the world of basketball witnesses a special youth event. And this weekend sees the tip-off of the 2014 Albert Schweitzer Tournament, a biennial U18 spectacle in Germany bringing together 16 nations from across the globe to determine the unofficial world champion.

The cities of Mannheim and Viernheim will be hosting the AST, which runs from April 19-26 and will provide fans a glimpse of hoops from Argentina to Japan, Chile to the United States, and throughout Europe.

A number of legends have previously graced the courts of Mannheim over the past 56 years, including American stars such as Magic Johnson, Tim Duncan and Vince Carter as well as most of the biggest international players in the game like Arvydas Sabonis, Drazen Petrovic, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Toni Kukoc, Dino Radja and Pau Gasol.

And the 27th edition of the tournament will certainly not disappoint - even though usual participants Greece, winners in 2002 and 2008; and the 2010 champions Australia are not on hand in Germany. Instead, Chile and Bosnia & Herzegovina are making their AST debuts this Easter, and it will be exciting to see what both teams have to offer.

Argentina are back at the AST for the fifth straight occasion and one of the leaders of the team will be Juan Vaulet, who played at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship and the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship. Another interesting player to watch will be Lucio Delfino, the younger brother of NBA player Carlos Delfino.

Youth hoops in Bosnia & Herzegovina is definitely on the rise and fans will see that with this team. Barcelona’s Nedim Djedovic - the younger brother of Bayern Munich’s Nihad Djedovic - will be one of Bosnia & Herzegovina’s leaders as will Edin Atic and Enis Memic, who played for Spars Sarajevo in the Nike International Junior Tournament.

As previously mentioned, Chile make their AST debut as well and the definite leader for the South Americans will be point guard Nicolas Aguirre.

China always bring interesting talents to this tournament and this year should be no different as they have star big men Jinqiu Hu and Hao Fu as well guard Mingzhi Xu.

England, returning for the first time in nearly 30 years, have been pushing the game and some of the fruits of that labour will show in Mannheim in Jules Akodo, who plays for Slovenian side Union Olimpija Ljubljana; and talented guard Josh Steel.

The 2006 champions France will as usual have some strong level players, among them Cyril Eliezer-Vanerot and Antoine Wallez.

The host team Germany has very deep group of talented players, led by Jan-Niklas Wimberg, Niklas Kiel and Andreas Obst.

Italy have two players who will be looking forward to playing in the NIJT finals at the Euroleague Final Four in Andrea Picarelli and Giosue Hamadi while Andrea La Torre also is a talented youngster.

Japan return for a second time and will be led by center Rui Hachimura and forward Hayato Maki.

One of the top favorites in Mannheim will be Serbia, even though they have never won the AST - Yugoslavia did win three titles. The Serbian group will be very deep including Vojislav Stojanovic, who won the MVP of the Belgrade NIJT tournament for Crvena zvezda Telekom Belgrade as well as Milos Glisic and Vanja Marinkovic from Partizan; Stefan Peno from Barcelona and big man Vasilje Vucetic from Union Olimpija.

Slovenia, back for the first time since 2004, are not quite as filled with top level talent like Serbia and Bosnia though Urban Durnik and Tilen Kordin will lead the charge in Mannheim.

The defending champions - at least in name - are Spain. And the Iberians will be a tough out for sure again, especially with Joventut duo of Sergi Costa and Marc Bauza as well as Barcelona’s Marc Garcia.

Sweden’s biggest star will be one of the best players in the tournament in point guard Ludde Hakanson.

Turkey’s only crown goes back to 2004 and some may consider the Turks a contender with the likes of Berk Ugurlu, Okben Ulubay and Furkan Korkmaz.

The last time Ukraine was at the AST was in 2006, and any chances for Ukraine will lie solidly on the shoulders of Sviatoslav Mikhailiuk, who is playing for Cherkasy in the Ukrainian Superleague.

The United States are the record AST champions with 10 titles, but the Americans haven’t won the crown since 1996.
The United States has not quite been as strong in recent years though this year’s class does have some talent. Ethan Happ will be heading to Wisconsin, Mike Williams to Rutgers and Tim Delaney to Villanova. Other strong players will be Bronx point guard Shavar Newkirk, Elijah Burns and big man Kory Kuenstling.

David Hein

FIBA

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