INQUIRER Sports

SINGAPORE—Unlike most imports in the international hoop circuit who jump on the next big offer, American guard Brandon Powell hopes to make a career out of his maiden stint in Philippine basketball.

And the 6-foot-5 Powell, one of two American reinforcements of the Philippine Patriots in the ongoing Asean Basketball League tournament, finds it easy to adjust to a new role.

“I’m more of a shooting guard, but here I made a transition to play multiple positions and I think it’s coming along great,” Powell said Sunday, just hours before the Patriots clashed with the Singapore Slingers at the Singapore Indoor Stadium here.

“The guys (teammates) are showing me how to play with them, we’re working on our chemistry as a team. I enjoy playing with the guys because they’re really teaching me a lot.”

But aside from pursuing his pro hoop dreams in Manila, the 22-year-old Powell also hopes to resolve his familial lineage.

Powell, who is estranged from his father, still has little information on his late paternal grandmother, Ruthie Powell, who supposedly traced her roots to the Philippines.

“She’s half-Filipino, that’s all I know,” he said. “I didn’t grow up with my dad. I haven’t really had the chance to be in contact with him and get everything together.

“But I’m just enjoying the situation I’m in now and I want to focus on that. If that doesn’t work out, I’d like to be naturalized as a Filipino, that’s the next step.”

Powell, who suited up as a backup guard during the Florida Gators’ 2006-2007 US NCAA championship run, arrived in Manila last June as an import prospect for San Miguel Beer in the PBA.

His uncle Gary Wheeler, an expatriate based in Makati City, encouraged him to start his pro career in the Philippines.

“He was really a big influence on me coming over here playing,” said Powell, a native of Memphis, Tennessee. “He was really excited for me to play with the San Miguel Beermen. Unfortunately it didn’t work out, but he’s been behind me the whole way. So this (ABL) is the next step.

“I find it really good,” added Powell. “I’m around a great group of guys and I’m actually learning how to play the Filipino style of basketball. I’m just enjoying it and trying to take in as much as I can while I’m playing in my pro debut.”