Lamina poised to become top overall pick, with Pepito close behind
Lams Lamina is set to become a top pick in the Draft. —PVL IMAGES
Hit by two big withdrawals that threw a monkey wrench on plans of several PVL teams, the 2026 Draft goes on as scheduled on Wednesday with former college superstars playing virtual nonscoring positions now poised to take the distinction of being the No. 1 overall choice.
Lams Lamina, the talented setter out of multiple-time UAAP champion National University, is seen as the logical choice to be the top overall selection of Galeries Tower after Alyssa Solomon and Niña Ytang opted out at the proverbial 11th hour, saying that they would want to give the Alas Pilipinas program their full attention.
Detdet Pepito, the charming ex-skipper of the University of Santo Tomas and two-time Best Libero in the UAAP, is now penciled to go very high in the picking order and provide defense to any team while being a big marketing tool.
The Highrisers would have gotten a truly solid scoring force had Solomon not decided to withdraw, and Capital1, which will pick second, was dead-set on signing Lamina to ensure proficient offensive orchestration since the Solar Spikers already signed Vanie Gandler and Erika Santos to form a three-sided blade with Rookie of the Year Bella Belen.
An Inquirer source said that Capital1 will deal for Lamina in the event that the team misses the chance to tab the former Lady Bulldog. And with Solomon out, the likelihood of Galeries snagging Lamina No. 1 overall seems a high possibility.
A total of 38 prospects are in the pool, all hoping for their names to be called during the proceedings that start at 7 p.m. at Novotel Manila Araneta City. Choco Mucho and Akari will pick third and fourth, followed by Nxled, Farm Fresh, PLDT and Creamline, to end the first round, in that order.
Also looking to capitalize on impressive performances at the Draft Combine are Adamson University’s Barbie Jamili and University of the East’s Khy Cepada.
Jamili excelled in several categories, topping the 10-meter sprint with a time of 1.759 seconds, the pro agility 5-10-5 test at 5.109 seconds and the hop test reactive strength index with 3.36 meters per second.
Meanwhile, Cepada placed second in both the 10-meter sprint (1.776 seconds) and countermovement jump (44.7 centimeters), third in the pro agility 5-10-5 test (5.133 seconds) and fifth in both the hop test reactive strength index (2.28 meters per second) and approach jump (295 centimeters).
Far Eastern’s Tin Ubaldo will not attend the draft proper as she remains with the Alas Pilipinas squad preparing for the AVC Women’s Cup in Candon City.
Other UAAP standouts in the pool are UST’s Jonna Perdido and Xyza Gula; UP’s Irah Jaboneta, Joan Monares, Heart Magsombol and Jum Gayo; FEU’s Ann Asis and Florize Papa; La Salle’s Ela Raagas, Michelle Beterina and Sophia Sindayen; the University of the East trio of Cepada, Tin Ecalla and Kayce Balingit and Ateneo’s Taks Fujimoto.
Jade Fuentes of Cal State Dominguez Hills is the lone Filipino-foreigner in this class. INQ
