INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - Clad in a plain, black shirt, jeans and white sneakers, Japeth Aguilar sat his lean frame?he laughed when someone mentioned he was listed as 6-foot-10 in newspaper articles?on a cushioned stool looking fresh for someone who had come from an ocean-spanning flight.

?That?s okay,? he said, referring to the borrowed inch, later setting the record straight on two key vital statistics. Six feet and nine inches, 210 lb.

That?s what he will be hauling into the training facilities of two national teams preparing for two big basketball events.

?I want to play for the two teams,? Aguilar told the Inquirer close to midnight Thursday after arriving in the country to begin practice with the national squad headed for the Jones Cup on July 16.

That team?handled by coach Yeng Guiao?is preparing for the Fiba-Asia men?s championship in Tianjin, China, a tournament whose top three finishers book ticket to the 2010 World Championships in Turkey.

But Aguilar, who once starred for Ateneo before settling for a reserve role at Western Kentucky in the tough US NCAA Division I, also has an outstanding invite from the other national team?one handled by Serbian Rajko Toroman?that is eyeing to return the Philippines to Olympic basketball competition.

?I?m excited about the chance to represent the country,? said the 22-year-old center/forward.

He?s done his homework thus far, learning about the two squads that are hoping to hook him up for an audition to the squad. He said Guiao?s team has a ?good mix of talent and veterans? while admires the ?long process? that Toroman?s squad is going through as it journeys toward a possible Olympic berth.

But most of all, he is physically prepared, having come from pre-draft workouts for the NBA?s D-League.

?It was a good experience, an experience of a lifetime,? he said. ?I?m really working on improving my performance through hard work.?

But all the preparation hasn?t given him an inkling of what to expect. In fact, after walking off the arrival area in long, sure strides, Aguilar said earning a shot at two national team slots hasn?t really sunk in yet.

?Di ko pa alam ano nararamdaman ko (I really don?t know how I feel),? said Aguilar, who was met in the airport by family members and PBA liaison officer Botong Chavez. ?I?ve heard that both teams really want me to try out for them but it has to sink in yet.?

But being the son of former national player Peter, Aguilar knows how much he can contribute to the two teams and how much he wants to play for flag and country.

?I?ll bring in a lot of athleticism [at the low blocks], a lot of passion and a lot of hard work,? said Aguilar, who said he?s willing to put on hold plans to enter the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) to wear the national colors.

?I know that if I play for the Olympic team, I will have to wait three years to join the PBA,? he said. ?Right now, I don?t really have definite plans but my father told me that it?s a special feeling to play for the country and I want to experience that.?

Aguilar will practice with Guiao?s Powerade-RP squad starting Monday at the FilOil Flying-V Arena in San Juan. His first practice game will also be with the Powerade-RP squad, which faces the visiting Athletes in Action in San Juan on Thursday.