Christian Standhardinger. Photo from Fiba.com
Projected number one pick Christian Standhardinger and homegrown standouts Kiefer Ravena and Jeron Teng lead the 44 players who made themselves available for the 2017 PBA Rookie Draft before Thursday’s 5 p.m. deadline.
Raymar Jose and Jett Manuel, both of whom suited up for Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas in the recently-concluded 2017 Fiba Asia Champions Cup at Chenzhou, China, are also among the aspirants.
Fil-foreign bets Jason Perkins from La Salle and Davon Potts of San Beda are also seen to be first round picks.
Kia will be selecting first from the pool on Draft Day on October 29 at Robinson’s Place Manila, followed by NLEX at second and Blackwater at third.
The Fil-German Standhardinger, the tallest prospect at 6-foot-7, is expected to get drafted at the top.
College standouts who are also hoping to make the leap are Rey Nambatac and Jom Sollano of Letran, Sidney Onwubere of EAC, Lervin Flores of Arellano, Ervin Grospe of JRU, Dan Sara of San Beda and Gab Dagangon of Perpetual.
There’s also a considerable amount of Fil-foreign hopefuls joining the fray, namely Robbie Herndon of Wangs Basketball, Julian Sargent and Zach Nicholls of Marinerong Pilipino, Andreas Cahilig of Cignal HD, and Felix Apreku of Racal, all of whom saw action in the past PBA D-League season.
Rounding out the initial draft list are: JK Casiño of CEU; Thomas Torres of La Salle; Mac Tallo of SWU; Monbert Arong and Arvie Bringas of FEU; Kyle Neypes of NU; Dave Moralde of UP; Louie Vigil of UST; Gwynne Capacio and Chris de Chavez of Ateneo; Fil-Indonesian guard Biboy Enguio, Emil Palma, and JR Sumido of UE; Joseph Nalos and Lloyd Abrigo of Adamson; Jebb Bulawan and Wilson Baltazar of Lyceum; Joseph Gabayni of Racal; Jayson Grimaldo of Victoria Sports-MLQU; Jon Gabriel of Colegio de San Lorenzo and Marinerong Pilipino; Michael Juico of San Sebastian and Wangs Basketball; Elmer Cabahug of Flying V; Jerome Ortega of AMA Online Education; and less-heralded applicants Jeremiah dela Peña and Christian Geronimo.
All 45 applicants have to go through the Draft Combine, set a week prior to the draft, before making the final list.