MIES (Switzerland) - The elite level of the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025 shined through a year later as six players who starred in Lausanne last summer were selected in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft, including the No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa.
Actually four of the players selected for last summer's All-Star Five went in the first round of the draft - Dybantsa, his USA teammate Mikel Brown Jr., Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson of Germany.
Here is the full list of players from Lausanne who were picked in the draft.
AJ Dybantsa - USA - No. 1 - Washington
Dybantsa wowed fans in Lausanne with his all-around game as USA won the title and the forward took home the TISSOT Most Valuable Player award and headed the All-Star Five. He averaged 14.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals last summer.
After one season at Brigham Young University, Dybantsa was selected No. 1 overall by the Washington Wizards.
Mikel Brown Jr - USA - No. 6 - Brooklyn
Brown had his argument for the MVP trophy as he collected 14.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game at the U19 World Cup. That earned him a spot on the All-Star Five alongside Dybantsa.
Brown spent last season at Louisville University and turned that into the No. 6 spot in the NBA Draft by the Brooklyn Nets.
Morez Johnson Jr. - USA - No. 9 - Dallas
Johnson played a strong role in the Americans winning the title with 9.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. He ranked second on the team in rebounds and blocks.
After one season at the University of Illinois, Johnson moved to the University of Michigan for this season and helped the Wolverines to the NCAA title. Dallas chose the big man with the No. 9 overall pick of the draft.
Hannes Steinbach - Germany - No. 14 - Charlotte
Steinbach helped Germany make history last summer as they reached the U19 World Cup Final for their best-ever showing in the junior world championship. The big man averaged 17.4 points, 13.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 blocks per game and earned a spot on the All-Star Five.
Steinbach played this past season at the University of Washington and led all of college basketball in rebounding with 11.8 boards per game. The Charlotte Hornets picked Steinbach with the 14th pick.
Christian Anderson Jr. - Germany - No. 18 - Charlotte
Anderson did all he could to lead Germany to the title last summer but came up just short alongside with Steinbach in finishing second to the USA. The point guard finished with 17.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game to grab a spot on the All-Star Five.
Anderson played last season with Texas Tech University - his second with the college - and was named First-team All-Big 12 and the conferences's Most Improved Player. Charlotte then picked Anderson to team him up with Steinbach.
Koa Peat - USA - No. 30 - Phoenix (via Dallas and New York)
After winning two FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup titles, Peat added the U19 World Cup crown last summer as he tallied 12.6 points, a team-high 6.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists. The power forward played last season at University of Arizona and was named to the Big-12 All-Freshman Team.
Peat was then drafted by Dallas and then traded to the New York Knicks and subsequently to the Phoenix Suns.
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