USA’s AJ Dybantsa named TISSOT Most Valuable Player

LAUSANNE – USA’s AJ Dybantsa was named the TISSOT Most Valuable Player of the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025 after leading his country to their record ninth junior world title.

Dybantsa starred all tournament with his electric all-around game. He poured in 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in USA’s win over Germany in the Final, 109-76, and averaged 14.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game for the tournament.

It was the second time Dybantsa was named to an All-Star Five after earning top-five status from the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024.

Christian Anderson, Mikel Brown Jr, Zak Smrekar, AJ Dybantsa, Hannes Steinbach

Dybantsa was joined on the SwissBorg All-Star Five by USA teammate Mikel Brown Jr, the Germany duo of Christian Anderson Jr and Hannes Steinbach and Zak Smrekar of Slovenia.

Brown contributed 12 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists to USA’s victory in the Final. For the event, the point guard tallied 14.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game.

Anderson had 18 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals in the Final against USA. The point guard finished with 17.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Steinbach added another strong showing in the Final with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block. The big man averaged 17.4 points, 13.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 blocks per game.

Smrekar scored 20 points to go with 5 rebounds and 3 assists in Slovenia’s 91-87 win over New Zealand in the Third Place Game. For the competition, the forward averaged 16.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.

FIBA

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