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 a look at places 16-20 plus Honorable mentions
Here is a look at places 15-11

Here is the third installment with places 10-6

10 - Ben Simmons - Australia - 2012

Simmons was making his debut with the Australians at the 2012 U17 World Cup a month shy of his 16th birthday. Simmons averaged 9.0 points 5.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists in the tournament. He started the event with 4 points against USA and then had 10 points versus China before showing his NBA potential in earnest against Czechia with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 5 steals. Simmons followed that with 13 points, 14 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 43 minutes of an overtime win over Egypt. He then played just 3 minutes against France in the final group game.

He picked up 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks in just 17 minutes in the Quarter-Finals against Argentina before totaling 7 points and 7 rebounds in 26 minutes in the final two games, losing in the Final to USA for second place in the tournament.

Ben Simmons (back row, far right) at the FIBA Oceania Championship 2013

Simmons shining as a bottom level player gave Boomers fans excitement for more and he debuted with the Australian senior team the next summer at the FIBA Oceania Championship 2013 as a 17-year-old. In two games against New Zealand, he combined for 4 points, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 14 minutes. That was the last time that Simmons donned the Green and Gold of Australia.

After one season of college basketball at Louisiana State University, Simmons was the number one overall pick of the 2016 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He missed his entire first season with an injury and then came back and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2018. After playing 81 and 79 games in his first two seasons, Simmons appeared in only 57 and 58 games in 2019-20 and 2020-21. He was named an NBA All-Star three times and given a spot on the NBA All-Defensive First Team in 2020 and 2021. He ended up holding out and missed the entire 2021-22 season and played 42 games for Brooklyn in 2022-23. This season, injuries limited Simmons to just 15 games for Brooklyn. 

9 - Rui Hachimura – Japan - 2014

Hachimura stood out at the FIBA U16 AsiaCup 2013 with 22.8 points and 12. 6 rebounds as Japan finished third to qualify for the U17 World Cup for the first time in 2014. Hachimura starred as one of Japan's few high level players with a tournament high 22.6 points and 6.6 rebounds. He collected 22 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks in the opening game and picked up 27 points and 8 rebounds against France.

In the Round of 16 against United States, Hachimura scored 25 points in Japan's 122-38 loss to go with 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. He poured in 35 points against Italy in 9-16 Classification and finished the tournament with 22 points against Egypt as Japan finished 14th.

Hachimura played again for Japan three summers later at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 and averaged 20.6 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 blocks. He debuted with the senior national team in the June/July 2018 window the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers, collecting 24 points as Japan shocked Australia 79-78. Japan went 4-0 in the four Quailfiers games in which Hachimura played and the star forward averaged 21.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.8 steals.

Hachimura collected 13.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 and then starred for the home country at the 2020 Olympics with 22.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists. After playing three seasons for Gonzaga in college basketball, Hachimura was selected ninth overall in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 2020 and after three seasons in Washington, he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-23 season. This past season, Hachimura collected 13.6 points and 4.7 rebounds in 68 games. 

8 - Jaren Jackson Jr - USA - 2016

Jackson was making his FIBA debut at the U17 World Cup in 2016 and he played a role as backup big man, collecting 4.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 14 minutes. His best game came in the opener with 9 points and 6 rebounds against Chinese Taipei. Jackson tallied 6 points and 5 rebounds in his only other group stage game and had 3 points and 3 rebounds against Argentina in the Round of 16.

The New Jersey native scored 4 points to go with 8 rebounds and 3 blocks in the Quarter-Finals win over Korea and contributed 2 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals in the Semi-Finals against Lithuania. Jackson chipped in 2 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks as USA beat Türkiye in the Final to win the title. 

Jaren Jackson Jr at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023

Jackson did not play for USA again until the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 where he averaged 8.1 points and 2.9 rebounds in nearly 17 minutes per game. He scored 12 points against both New Zealand and Jordan with a combined 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in First Round action. The big man also scored 11 points against Montenegro before combining for 5 points and 4 rebounds in the final Second Round game against Lithuania and Quarter-Finals versus Italy. Jackson chipped in 8 points and 3 rebounds in the Semi-Finals loss to Germany.

Jackson attended Michigan State University for one season and then was selected fourth overall in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2019 and led the NBA in blocks in 2022 and 2023, being named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team both seasons and winning the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2023. This past season - his sixth with Memphis - he set career highs with 22.5 points, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals to go with 5.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. 

7 - Collin Sexton - USA - 2016

Sexton was making his FIBA debut at the U17 World Cup in 2016 and he shined for the title-winning USA team. He led the team in scoring (17.0 ppg), assists (4.2 apg) and steals (3.2 spg) to go with 4.0 rebounds. That production earned him the MVP award for the tournament. The Marietta, Georgia native scored 13 points against Chinese Taipei to start the tournament and he poured in 20 points with 4 assists and 3 steals in his only other group stage game against Türkiye.

Sexton collected 14 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in a win over Argentina in the Round of 16 and tallied 24 points with 5 rebounds and 6 assists in the Quarter-Finals versus Korea. Sexton did not slow down in the Semi-Finals with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists against Lithuania before tallying 16 points, 8 assists and 2 steals in the Final against Türkiye. 

Collin Sexton was named MVP of the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2014

That was the only time Sexton played for USA Basketball. Sexton played one season of college basketball at the University of Alabama. He was chosen with the eighth overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Sexton was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 2019 and had his biggest season in the NBA in 2020-21 with a career high 24.3 points as well as 4.4 assists to go along with 3.1 rebounds. His 2021-22 season ended in early November with a knee injury which required surgery.

He was traded to the Utah Jazz in 2022 and played 78 games this past season and averaged 18.7 points and a career-best 4.9 assists. 

6 - Alperen Sengun - Türkiye - 2018

Sengun made his FIBA debut at the U17 World Cup 2018 about a month shy of his 16th birthday. And the Giresun native was strong from the first tip, averaging 15.9 points, 12.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists. The center scored 12 points in each of the first two games to go with 17 combined rebounds. In the final group stage game, he was limited to 6 points but grabbed 14 rebounds while dishing out 5 assists.

Sengun collected 22 points and 15 rebounds as Türkiye beat Serbia in the Round of 16 but his 26 points and 17 rebounds were not enough in a loss to France in the Quarter-Finals. He continued to dominate with 20 points and 13 rebounds against Montenegro and finished the tournament with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks as Türkiye beat Australia to take fifth place.  

Sengun played later that summer for Türkiye again and led the country to third place at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2018, averaging 14.4 points and 9.4 rebounds. The following summer he collected 11.9 points and 9.0 rebounds at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2019 and Türkiye grabbed second place with Sengun garnering a spot on the All-Star Five.

Sengun made his senior national team debut at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Qualifiers, playing in the November 2020 and February 2021 windows and averaging 12.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals, including 24 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals agianst Sweden. Sengun played at the 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Victoria and then starred at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022, collecting 16.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals. Sengun was only able to play in one window for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers and then he averaged 16.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists in the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament 2023 Türkiye.

Sengun started his career at Bandirma and moved to Besiktas Istanbul and was named the Turkish league MVP in 2021 - at age 19. He was selected at No. 16 of the 2021 NBA Draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder and traded to the Houston Rockets. Sengun finished his third season with Houston which was his best as he averaged career highs of 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.2 steals.

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

FIBA