Three NCAA high school players have been named in the top five of the NBTC 24, a list of 24 high school standouts in the Philippines.
La Salle Green Hills' Luis Pablo and Seven Gagate placed second and fifth in the NBTC 24, while Colegio de San Juan de Letran's Andy Gemao is ranked fourth.
Letran is still waiting for their opponent in the NCAA juniors basketball tournament as San Beda and LSGH will still slug out on Thursday for the second finals slot.
Aside from the three, other NCAA players included in the NBTC 24 include LPU's Matthew Rubico (#8), San Beda's Christopher Hubilla (#10) and Andrei Dungo (#20), Perpetual's Amiel Acido (#11), Arellano's SJ Moore (#15), and Letran's Jonathan Manalili (#16).
Meanwhile, Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu's Jared Bahay topped the list, while Nazareth School-National University's Rein Jumanoy completed the top five.
Bahay is the first non-UAAP and non-NCAA player to top the list, following the likes of Encho Serrano (Adamson University), Kai Sotto (Ateneo de Manila), and Rhayyan Amsali (San Beda University).
The 17-year old is the Most Valuable Player of the CESAFI juniors basketball tournament and was also part of the 2022 FIBA U-16 and U-18 Asian Championships.
The full list of the NBTC 24 includes:
1) Jared Bahay - CESAFI/SHS-Ateneo
2) Luis Pablo - NCAA/LSGH
3) Rein Jumamoy - UAAP/NSNU
4) Andy Gemao - NCAA/Letran
5) Seven Gagate - NCAA/LSGH
6) Kristian Porter - UAAP/Ateneo
7) Rhyle Melencio - UAAP/DLSZ
8) Matthew Rubico - NCAA/LPU
9) Peter Rosillo - UAAP/Adamson
10) Chris Hubilla - NCAA/San Beda
11) Amiel Acido - NCAA/Perpetual
12) Lebron Nieto - UAAP/Ateneo
13) Janrey Pasaol - UAAP/FEU-D
14) Kobe Demisana - UAAP/UPIS
15) SJ Moore - NCAA/Arellano
16) Jonathan Manalili - NCAA/Letran
17) RJ Colonia - UAAP/NSNU
18) Kieffer Alas - UAAP/DLSZ
19) Mark Llemit - UAAP/UST
20) Andrei Dungo - NCAA/San Beda
21) Raffy Celis - CESAFI/SHS-Ateneo
22) Veejay Pre - UAAP/FEU-D
23) Mat Edding - UAAP/FEU-D
24) Jonas Napalang - UAAP/FEU-D
The 24 players will be divided into two teams (Team Hustle and Team Heart) in the All-Star Game of the NBTC scheduled for March 19.
—Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA Integrated News
