pic credit: VGjosh

How cool must it be for a kid living in the States to come overseas and play internationally at the youth level? In Germany in the last years there have been guys who have had that opportunity like Sam Griesel who grew up in Nebraska, but has German roots won a Bronze at the 2020 U-20 European championships. But there have been other examples in the last years like the Anderson brothers with Christian and Lucai. Their dad Christian is German and played professionally for Bamberg and married an American woman. Christian has had an amazing track record for Germany since making his debut in 2022 at the U-16 Euro winning a Gold. He then won a Bronze at the U-18 Euro in 2023, then a Gold at the U-18 Euro in 2024 and a Bronze the same year at the Albert Schweitzer tournament and last year came up short losing to USA at the U-19 world Cup winning the silver. His younger brother Lucai helped Germany win the Gold at this years Albert Schweitzer tournament as did William Dopfer. Dopfer is a red head kid from Georgia who got to spend his Easter break in Germany and along the way pick up a Gold at AST and play against some of the worlds best U-18 junior players. But how exactly do his roots to Germany look like? “My whole family is from Germany including my parents. I have been in Germany a lot before. I was the first American born in my entire family including my ancestors. So when I was born, I was registered in Berlin and have dual citizenship. He must have had special stories to tell his classmates the week after? “Yes I did. It was great spending Easter in Germany. I didn´t go to church, but it was still awesome playing at AST. Playing against such elite competition and playing a very different style of basketball was very eye opening for me”, stressed Will Dopfer. It didn´t take him long to feel like home in Germany. “I liked how everyone spoke English. But actually how nice everyone was. Once I got to know everyone and started speaking to them, they opened up and were all really nice”, remembered Will Dopfer.

pic credit: I am Wosz

Germany played Bahrain first and used it as a warm up destroying the Asian team 116-59. Germany totally controlled the boards 55-31 and had 6 players score in double figures led by Lucai Anderson with 16 points. “It was key to have an easy win under our belt. It was our first game playing together, being able to knock the rust off and get a feel of each other in a game where we were the superior opponents was a confidence boost and also a learning period”, said Will Dopfer “Dusan Ilic had 12 points and gave great energy from the bench. Was his quickness or his motor most beneficial for the team? “Dusan was great. He played extremely hard, and that really helped us a ton. On the offensive end, being a point guard and able to play fast isn’t easy. He did a great job handling the ball and not turning the ball over while maintaining the speed and energy he plays with”, remembered Will Dopfer. Germany next faced Slovenia and had their toughest challenge of the tournament. Germany started slow and had to play catch up basketball for most of the game. Germany picked up the intensity in the fourth quarter at both ends and won it with the masterful game winner by Jamie Edoka. “We learned this wasn’t going to be easy, winning this whole thing. We knew there was a chance we could play them again. But in that game, we all came together and played for each other, which propelled us to the win. And if we did that again, we can definitely win this thing”, remembered Will Dopfer. Edoka closed out the game with a pretty step back jumper on the baseline where the basketball God let it bounce around on rim and back board before finally rolling in. “Jamie is a special player. He does a lot of things really well. He gets to his spot like no other. He plays with poise and confidence. He knows when he needs to take over, but also where the ball needs to be if someone is hot or there is a mismatch. His game winner was amazing, knowing we had come back from that deficit was a great feeling, and seeing that ball drop was the cherry on top. The nerves were there the whole 4th quarter, and as the ball went up, you could definitely feel the air get sucked out of the gym”, added Will Dopfer. Germany controlled the boards again 41-33 with 16 offensive rebounds and had 4 guys score in double figures. Lucai Anderson was top scorer with 16 points and nailed big three´s when Germany needed it in their come back. Caspar Vossenberg added 13 points and was one of those silent hero´s during the tournament stepping up in so many ways. “Caspar is relentless; he plays super hard and physical, which not a lot of people do. His excelling at that was a key factor in our success”, commented Will Dopfer.

Germany next faced Turkey where many Turkish fans showed up adding to a beautiful atmosphere. Germany was in control in the first half, but had a horrible third quarter being outscored 24-4, but retreated in the fourth quarter demonstrating that they can flip the switch at any time exploding for 29 points and winning easily 95-80. “I don´t remember but, we shot the ball really well. I think over 40% from 3 on quite a lot of attempts, which really helped us pull away”, said Will Dopfer. Germany once again dominated the boards 44-26 and offensive rebounds 20-8 and shot a potent 46% from outside. Germany was led by Lucai Anderson with 26 points and had 4 players in double figures. Fin Borczwanoski had a solid game of 13 points, but was in the shadow of Lucai Anderson´s brilliant scoring game. “Fin was an X factor for us. When Fin played good the team thrived. We was crucial for us, hitting tough shots, playing hard, and guarding”, expressed Will Dopfer. Germany then faced Sweden in the fourth game and won 91-56. After a tight first quarter, Germany then played consistent ball in the last 3 quarters averaging 22 points and allowing only 11 points on the way to a comfortable victory. Germany led by as much as 35 points and won the rebound duel 61-32. They also forced them to 6/37 shooting from outside. “ I remember how dominant we were. I didn’t play in that game so I was able to watch and nitpick everything. After the game I came into the locker room and said that we looked like the better team for all 40 minutes. In every other game there were stretches were we looked worse but against Sweden it was dominance for 40 minutes”, stressed Will Dopfer. Germany spread the love around with scoring once again totaling 5 players in double figures led by Edoka´s 15 points. Orange Academy big man Felix Kiehlneker had a great game of 12/13. “I remember how active Felix was for us. He is constantly working on both ends of the floor. He’s athletic, has great timing on shot blocking and crashes both sides of the glass”, commented Will Dopfer.The German domination continued against Japan winning 103-78. After a tight first quarter, Germany then exploded for 62 points in the second and third quarters paving the win. “ his win was another confidence boost heading into bracket play”, said Will Dopfer. Germany was led by Caspar Vossenberg with 17 points and had 4 guys score in double figures and won the rebound battle again easily 61-32 with 20 offensive rebounds

pic credit: Iamwosz

Germany was 5-0 and now met Brazil in the semi-finals. Was any one going to stop them? Germany witnessed a tight scoring first half leading 51-50, but stepped it up in the third quarter exploding for 31 points and took it up another notch in the last frame with 39 points winning 121-98 “ We decided we needed to be more physical; we were getting out-rebounded and they just out physicaled us the whole first half. At the break, we knew if we played harder and tougher, we could win this”, warned Will Dopfer. Anderson and Edoka combined for 47 points as Anderson led all scorers with 26 points. “Lucai is an effortless scorer and a brilliant shot maker. He scores like no other. He shoots the ball at a very high clip. Has a tight handle and is definitely a 3-level scorer”, warned Will Dopfer. Where would he rate Lucai´s play compared to his brother Christian´s play at that age? “I never watched Christian at Lucai’s age, but right now Lucai is bigger size-wise so that’s an advantage he has. But it will definitely be interesting to see how he pans out compared to Christian”, stressed Will Dopfer. Germany won the rebound battle again 40-24, shot 42% from outside and only coughed up the ball 9 times. The final was a close battle against Slovenia. Germany led 46-38 at the break, but in the second half Slovenia led briefly until Germany got the lead back and never looked back despite winning the second half only 41-37. “We just stuck together, if we turned on each other and started playing for ourselves, it wouldn´t go well. We knew if we played selflessly, looked for the best shot on offense, and played team defense, we will win”, remembered Will Dopfer. Hearing the buzzer to win the AST was definitely a very special moment. “I felt a lot of different emotions, happiness, completion, and hunger. It was just so cool to play for my country, and it was such a blessing to play there. It felt like my hard work paid off”, stated Will Dopfer. Germany was led by Edoka with 17 points and had 4 guys score in double figures and won the rebound battle again 49-36. ”Obviously, winning the whole tournament was the goal going in. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but if we all bought in, we knew we were very capable of winning. Our pace was our biggest strength in the tournament. We averaged over 95 points. Playing fast, it allowed us to really put the beating on our opponents. But you can’t play fast if you don’t rebound and play defense, so those definitely were big contributors to our pace as well”, stressed Will Dopfer. After the win, coach Alan Ibrahimagic was greeted with a massive shower in the dressing room. There was a team dinner and then most guys were on their way home except for Anderson and Dopfer who left Sunday to travel back to the states.

The German who lists player Alessanco Vazquez dos Santos of Brazil, Darius Karatasu of Turkey Maks Ciperle of Slovenia, and Kenichiro Benedict Of Japan as his toughest opponents at AST had a solid tournament averaging 6/3/1/1. “I feel like I impacted where I could. I definitely could’ve scored the ball better but my role was to bring energy and be the glue guy and I think I did that very well”, stressed Will Dopfer. Was it a tough adjustment coming from US high school ball and playing euro ball? “It was definitely an adjustment. The rules obviously are different here in HS vs out there. The travel rule was big for me, and the 24-second shot clock was fun to get used to”, said Will Dopfer. He played against 5 different nations and against the best youth players on earth. He did at both ends of the court. “I wouldn’t say my game grew as much but my IQ definitely did. I learned lots from the coaches and understanding how they play here. I did a great job showcasing my two way ability. guarding multiple positions, blocking shots and then scoring in transition on the other end”, added Will Dopfer. It was the first time that he played for head coach Alan Ibrahimagic and was able to learn so much in such a short time. “European coaches are very team oriented. and where as Americans are team focused but also very player oriented and 1 on1 compared to getting everyone involved. It was fun playing for coach Ibrahimagic. I always enjoy learning from different coaches, seeing what each one emphasizes and how they teach. he definitely helped a lot with IQ, teaching pick and roll reads and defensive decision making”, remembered Will Dopfer. There were so many great highlights during AST for Germany, but what about his favorite own plays? “My favorite personal game highlights was put back dunk, and then my hammer in the championship game”, stressed Will Dopfer. Dopfer has committed to Longwood and it will be interesting how his game grows at the next level. It will also be interested to see if Will Dopfer plays for Germany again. I definitely would love to see him compete again for Germany and I´m sure the German coaching staff will as well in the future.