Zamboanga City wins Leg 2 of the Chooks to Go 3×3 President’s Cup. CHOOKS PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—The top 3×3 players of the Philippines are set to jump to the PBA with Zamboanga City’s Joshua Munzon, Alvin Pasaol, Santi Santillan, and Troy Rike all declaring for the Rookie Draft.
Munzon, the no.1 3×3 player in the country, has been a staple of the half court circuit with Zamboanga City-Family’s Brand Sardines but burst into prominence in the ASEAN Basketball League playing for the Saigon Heat and Westports Malaysia Dragons.
The 6-foot-4 wing also played in the PBA D-League for AMA Online Education where he once scored 46 points.
“Thank you Joshua Munzon, Alvin Pasaol, Troy Rike, and Leonard Santillan for making our country proud over the last two years,” posted Chooks-to-Go on its Facebook account. “We at Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas won’t hinder you from achieving your dreams.”
Pasaol, the no.2 3×3 player in the Philippines, was already a viable draft prospect when he was still playing in the UAAP for University of the East.
Despite not winning a UAAP title, or even appearing in the Final Four, Pasaol was one of his generation’s brighter talents with the burly power forward once scoring a school record 49 points in 2017.
Pasaol then played with Zamboanga’s team in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League and with Petron-Letran and Marineronong Pilipino in the PBA D-League.
Santillan, meanwhile, was the most successful of the UAAP players winning a title with De La Salle and transitioning his talents to the PBA D-League for Marinerong Pilipino and Zamboanga while also playing 3×3 for Zamboanga.
Rike, meanwhile, was a Gilas Cadet and a graduate of Wake Forest University in the United States.
He spent one postgraduate year in the UAAP with National University before playing in the PBA D-League with AMA then transitioning to the 3×3 circuit.