Who are the best ballers in U17 World Cup history? No. 20-16

MIES (Switzerland) - Some of the best players in the world have shown their promise early in their careers at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup over the life of the competition since 2010. Here are the Top 20 biggest names and how they performed in the event and beyond as professionals.

Here is the first installment with places 20-16 plus Honorable mentions.

Honorable mention:

Jaylen Hoard - France - 2016; Mikael Jantunen - Finland - 2016; Zaccharie Risacher - France - 2022;  Alexandre Sarr – France – 2022; Silvio De Sousa – Angola - 2014;  Justice Winslow - USA - 2012

20 - Mario Hezonja - Croatia - 2012

 

Hezonja came into the U17 World Cup 2012 as one of the brightest stars in the game, having played a major role for Croatia at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2011 the previous summer. He was then only 16. One year later, as expected, Hezonja dominated in Kaunas, pouring in 20.8 points to go with 7.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 2.3 steals and was named to the All-Star Five.

The wing opened the tournament with big double-doubles (24 points and 13 rebounds, 21 and 11) and had his best showing in the final group game with 30 points against Spain. Croatia ended up losing to Australia in the Semi-Finals despite 28 points from Hezonja. The team bounced back to beat Spain again with Hezonja tallying 23 points to take third place in the competition.

That remains the only podium finish for Croatia in the U17 World Cup history.

 

Hezonja joined Spanish powerhouse Barcelona at age 17 in 2012 and was selected fifth overall in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic. He played five seasons in the NBA before returning to Europe in 2021.

Hezonja also shined for the Croatian national team, debuting at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 at age 19. He helped the country advance through the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2016 and played at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Hezonja also played at the 2015 and 2022 FIBA EuroBaskets, qualifying games for a number of tournaments as well as the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament 2023 Türkiye and also appeared in the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers.

19 - Kai Sotto – Philippines - 2018

 

Sotto had an important year in 2018, first playing in the FIBA U16 AsiaCup to qualify Philippines for the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018 - the country's second appearance in the tournament following 2014. And Sotto lived up the expectations in Argentina as he collected 16.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 2.3 blocks.

Sotto struggled with fouls against France with just 7 points and 6 rebounds and could not deal with the size and strength of Mali as he had 6 points and 6 rebounds. But he really shined in the final two classification games, picking up 28 points, 17 rebounds and 3 blocks against Egypt and then 22 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks versus New Zealand.

 

Sotto later in the summer helped Philippines qualify for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019 with a stellar showing at the FIBA U18 AsiaCup 2018. The big man from Manila would soon thereafter move into the Philippines senior national team, playing at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2020 Belgrade as well as qualifying games for the FIBA Asia Cup 2022 and FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

Sotto also played at last summer's FIBA World Cup - his first major full tournament and did decently with 6 points and 4 rebounds at age 21. In 2021, Sotto joined Adelaide 36ers of the Australian NBL league and played their two seasons before moving to Japan where he finished the 2022-23 season and played last season. 

18 - Jean Montero – Dominican Republic - 2018

Montero started to show the makings of one of his country's future leaders at the U17 World Cup in 2018. The then 15-year-old guard scored 15.4 points with 39.1 percent three-point shooting and averaged 4.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 4.1 steals. Dominican Republic lost all three games in the group stage and then lost to United States in the Round of 16.

The team turned it around and won their final three games to finish ninth overall. Montero had a performance for the ages in the 9-12 Classification as they beat Mali 110-108 in triple-overtime with the guard collecting 33 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 7 steals. And Montero finished the tournament with 14 points, 3 assists and 6 steals in a win over Serbia to take ninth place.

 

Despite being just 16 years old, Montero travelled with the senior national team to China for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 but did not make the final cut for the squad. He debuted forthe senior squad in the FIBA AmeriCup 2022 Qualifiers and already started taking more leadership in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers.

Last summer he collected 9.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists at the FIBA World Cup. Montero started his professional career in 2019 with Spanish club Gran Canaria. He still is playing in Spain and was the third leading scorer in the league in 2022-23 with 17.3 points per game with Real Betis Sevilla. 

17 - Evan Mobley - USA - 2018

Mobley was one of the leading big men for a stacked USA roster for the 2018 U17 World Cup. The California native was outstanding throughout the tournament, averaging 9.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.6 blocks in 18 minutes per game. He ranked second in the competition with swats.

Mobley's size was needed for USA against Mali, collecting 12 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks and then had 15 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks in the Quarter-Finals against Croatia. He chipped in 4 points, 5 rebounds and 4 blocks in the Semi-Finals versus Canada and added 8 points with USA beating France in the Final. 

 

Mobley played a year younger the next summer at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019. The center was not able to play much though as he was dealing with a back issue. He was limited to just 7:30 minutes of play in two games, picking up 2 points, 2 rebounds and 1 block. Mobley has yet to play again for USA since then.

The center played one season of college basketball at University of Southern California and then was selected third overall in the 2021 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He finished second in the balloting for NBA Rookie of the Year in 2022 and in his second season he solidified his status as one of the top defenders in the league, making the NBA All-Defensive First Team in 2023. Mobley's third NBA season was arguably his best with 15.7 points on 58.0/37.3/71.9 percent shooting to go with 9.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 blocks. 

16 - Dzanan Musa - Bosnia and Herzegovina – 2016

 
Musa came to the 2016 U17 World Cup after having guided Bosnia and Herzegovina to the title at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2015 - arguably the country's biggest sports achievement in history. Musa was the MVP of the continental championship and the wing showed why in Zaragoza.

He averaged 34.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals to garner a spot on the All-Star Five. Musa collected two double-doubles with 30+ points in the group stage and then tallied 34 points in the Round of 16 against Australia. But his production was not enough as Bosnia and Herzegovina lost 75-72 in the first knockout game.

Musa took out his anger on Chinese Taipei in the 9-16 Classification as he dropped 50 points on the Asian side - setting a new FIBA U17 World Cup single game scoring record that still stands. Musa averaged 33.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 3.0 steals and 1.5 blocks in the final two games as Bosnia and Herzegovina finished ninth.

 

Later that summer, Musa starred in the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2016 and also debuted with the senior national team at the FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers. Musa regularly played for his country in qualifiers for a number of events and then was a major leader for Bosnia and Herzegovina at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022, averaging 21.4 points.

He could not help the country reach the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 and also missed out on the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2024 as Bosnia and Herzegovina lost in the Final of the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament 2023 Poland-Estonia.

He debuted as a pro at the club level with Croatian team Cedevita Zagreb and was drafted in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft and played two seasons with the Brooklyn Nets. Musa returned to Europe in 2021 and played the end of the season with Anadolu Efes Istanbul and guided Spanish side Rio Breogan to the Copa del Rey in 2021-22 for the first time in more than 30 years. He joined Real Madrid in 2022.

Stay tuned for the rest of the Top 20 players to ever play at the U17 World Cup.

FIBA