BELGRADE (FIBA U17 World Championship) - Stefan Peno is a confident player and the Serbian point guard displayed that confidence and his skills in helping the Balkan nation to a third-place showing at the biennial Albert Schweitzer Tournament (AST). The 16-year-old will use that experience to be a leader at this summer's FIBA U17 World Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Peno was an underclass player at the U18 world invitational tournament, but he didn't play like it, finishing second in his team in scoring at 11.6 points per game, while adding 4.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists and shooting 47 percent from three-point range and 90 percent from the free-throw line.

"It's an honor to play here because it's every two years so my generation will not play here. So, it's a very big honor to play," said Peno, who had 13 points in Serbia's win over Turkey to finish third.

When asked if he felt any different about playing a year younger than the rest of the competition, Peno said: "No, why? I am just a basketball player doing what I love."

Peno came into the tournament after leading the Serbs to the Final of the 2013 U16 European Championship, where they lost to Spain. And despite hs team finishing second, Peno was named the tournament's MVP.

The AST along with playing with Barcelona's youth team in the second Spanish division (LEB Gold) will help make Peno an even better leader for Serbia at the U17 World Championship in Dubai, where the Serbs have been drawn into Group D with Argentina, China and Egypt.

"Last year at the U16s, we showed to people that we are one of the best teams in Europe so we have big expectations in Dubai," said Peno.

When asked specifically what kind of expectations, he clarified: "Gold."

Peno said the Serbians really just have to play like a team to get to the podium at the August 8-16 tournament.

The Belgrade native, who has played with Barcelona’s youth teams since 2011, said he is still developing his all-around game.

"I just have to develop more things and work on defense. I’m an attacking player so I have to play defense to do something big in basketball," said Peno.

Confidence is not a problem - that's for sure.

FIBA