The 2001 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship (known at that time as 2001 European Championship for Cadets) was the 16th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. The city of Riga, in Latvia, hosted the tournament. Yugoslavia won the trophy for the eighth time. It was their third title in a row.
There were two qualifying rounds for this tournament. Twenty-four national teams entered the qualifying round. Fifteen teams advanced to the Challenge Round, where they joined Turkey, Macedonia and France. The remaining eighteen teams were allocated in three groups of six teams each. The three top teams of each group joined Yugoslavia (title holder), Greece (runner-up) and Latvia (host) in the final tournament.
Preliminary round
The twelve teams were allocated in two groups of six teams each.