MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos are about to get a glimpse of how far Philippine basketball prodigy Kai Sotto has gone since his overseas training.
The 17-year-old Sotto, the country’s best bet for a first ever Filipino-born player to make the NBA, will test his mettle when he suits up for Mighty Sports in the Dubai Invitational Basketball Tournament slated next year.
The team’s head coach Charles Tiu announced the news Tuesday on his Twitter account.
Welcome to our Mighty Sports team @kzsottolive. Pleased to share that Kai Sotto will be playing for us in Dubai. 👀 you there. Excited to be reunited with Kai. pic.twitter.com/NtUq5YeQT2
— Charles Tiu (@charlestiu) December 17, 2019
Tiu also cleared that suiting up for Mighty Sports and playing in an amateur league “will not affect his NCAA eligibility.”
Sotto, who left the country to hone his skills eight months ago, will join the likes of Gomez de Liano brothers Juan and Javi on the team.
The 7-foot-1 Sotto, who is currently in the US, is raring to strut his stuff in the amateur ranks while donning the country’s colors.
I’m super excited to be coming back to Manila next month for a week to train with the Mighty Sports team under Coach Charles Tiu. Looking forward to playing as an amateur representing my country in the 31st Dubai International Basketball Championship. We are going for the gold! pic.twitter.com/UK1bsKzH0h
— Kai Sotto (@kzsottolive) December 17, 2019
Sotto, who rapidly building his name as one of top big men in his class, recently made unofficial visits to renowned universities in the US in Kentucky and Georgia Tech.