LANETE: No.6, NLEX
NEWSOME: No.4, Meralco
Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao wasn’t kidding when he said that he would be springing a surprise in Sunday’s 2015 PBA Draft at Robinsons Place Manila.
With the top two choices—Moala Tautuaa and Troy Rosario—going as expected to Talk ‘N Text and Mahindra (formerly KIA Motors), respectively, Guiao tabbed Maverick Ahanmisi third overall to upset all pre-Draft predictions.
Guiao later on admitted to being “overruled” by members of his coaching staff and the two sons of team co-owner Raymund Yu, who pitched hard for the former Cafe France standout in the D-League.
“I thought he was a real legitimate first rounder,” Guiao said of Ahanmisi. “I had doubts. But he was highly recommended, and if they believe in him that much, I can allow myself to be overruled.
“I saw in his games (with Cafe France), he really has a high upside,” Guiao went on. “He can certainly make an impact in the PBA.”
Nigerian dad, Filipino mom
SHOCK PICK: Maverick Ahanmisi beats odds.
The 6-foot-1 Ahanmisi was born in California to a Nigerian father and a Filipino mother from Pangasinan. The 24-year-old played college ball at University of Minnesota from 2010 to 2014 and averaged less than three points and one rebound a contest before packing his bags to play in the PBA D-League.
He led Cafe France in scoring with 13.9 points in the 2015 Foundation Cup, which the Bakers later won over Hapee Toothpaste.
“It was a shock for me,” Ahanmisi said on being picked third overall. “I thought I would be going seventh, eighth or ninth.”
Tautuaa and Rosario missed the proceedings as they joined Gilas Pilipinas in Estonia, giving Guiao and the Elasto Painters centerstage with the No. 3 pick. And they exercised it on one who had been out of the radar going into yesterday’s proceedings.
The 6-foot-7 Tautuaa is the best big defender in the pool and with a lot of experience.
He is seen as the Tropang Texters’ answer to San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo, the reigning two-time MVP, and Barangay Ginebra’s 7-foot Greg Slaughter.
“This is like a dream come true, this is for everything that I have worked hard for,” said Tautuaa in an interview with Sports5, just hours before the Nationals’ flight back to Manila from Estonia.
Talk of Rosario trade
Rosario, meanwhile, is a hands-down franchise player if he indeed ends up with Mahindra, although there was talk that the team might trade him away to the Texters.
There were no trades allowed on Draft day, as requested by new league commissioner Chito Narvasa.
Ahanmisi did not work out with any team and flew back to the country just two days before the Draft Combine, where the skills of all the 63 aspirants were measured.
THOMPSON: No.5, Ginebra
Chris Newsome, another Fil-Am guard, was picked fourth overall by Meralco with former NCAA MVP Scottie Thompson of Perpetual Help emerging as the fifth-overall selection by crowd-darling Barangay Ginebra.
Garvo Lanete, a member of the Gilas cadet squad who could be the deadliest gun in the pool, was selected sixth by NLEX, with Meralco exercising its second first-round choice on former San Beda ace Baser Amer as No. 7.
Norbert Torres, the 6-foot-6 former La Salle center in the UAAP whom most pundits said would be the Painters’ first pick, landed with Star at eighth overall.
Art dela Cruz, another former Red Lion, was pick ninth overall by Blackwater, which earlier traded away the rights to Tautuaa.
NLEX nabbed Glen Khobuntin, Kevin Racal went to Alaska and the Painters picked Josan Nimes 12th overall to end the first round.
Another surprise happened in the third round, when former University of the East gunner Roi Sumang was picked by Globalport.