INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - It was a clear choice between playing for the national team or a signing a mega-buck contract in the Philippine Basketball Association.

Although Japeth Aguilar picked the glamour and rich reward offered by the professional league, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas is still hoping to persuade the 6-foot-10 pivotman to beef up the Smart Gilas national team.

?I think we have already made our interest, plans and proposal very clear to Japeth and his family,? said SBP executive director Noli Eala. ?We tried our best for him to consider playing for the national team.?

Aguilar, who saw action for US NCAA Division I school Western Kentucky U, is considered by Serbian coach Rajko Toroman a key factor in boosting the strength of Smart Gilas-RP.

Made up of former and active collegiate standouts from the UAAP and the NCAA, Smart Gilas-RP is on a long-term mission to bring the Philippines back to the Olympics in 2012 London through the 2011 Fiba Asia Championship qualifier.

The son of former PBA and Northern Consolidated center Peter Aguilar, Japeth announced his intention to join the PBA draft next month while playing for the Powerade-Pilipinas in the Jones Cup in Taipei.

Aguilar?s announcement triggered a frenzy in the PBA with Burger King, which owns the No. 1 overall pick for the 2009 draft, getting a deluge of offers in exchange for the services of the former Ateneo Blue Eagle.

?Ultimately, the decision is his to make,? said Eala. ?It should be an honor and duty to play for the national team. But at the end of the day, we will not force anybody.

?He would have been a great addition to the Smart Gilas program but we will make do with who we have and who have committed to playing for flag and country.?

Led by former Ateneo hotshot and skipper Chris Tiu and FEU?s Mark Barocca, Smart Gilas finished fifth during the Fiba Champions Cup two months ago behind champion Iran, Jordan, Lebanon and Qatar.