Fil-Ams Mercado, Reyes apply for PBA draft

MANILA, Philippines - Two highly touted US-raised Filipino players were the latest to make themselves available for this year's Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Rookie Draft. Harbour Centre guard Sol Mercado and the come-backing Rob Reyes already submitted their application papers to the PBA office Monday, signifying their intentions to join the Draft set August 31 at the Market Market in Taguig. The six-foot-two Mercado is a member of the Batang Pier's back-to-back title conquest in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL), while Reyes, a six-foot-five defensive whiz, was part of Harbour Centre's core when it won its breakthrough championship in the PBL two years ago. Top prospect Gabe Norwood has yet to make himself available pending to today's deadline for submission of papers involving foreign-bred players. The former George Mason University stalwart in the US NCAA Division One is a holder of a Philippine passport and has already seen action for the national team twice, one as a member of the RP quintet that won the gold medal in the 24th Southeast Asian Games in Thailand last year. But reports have it that Norwood, who plays for Hapee Toothpaste in the PBL, has yet to get a clearance from the Department of Justice, one of the prerequisites needed by the PBA from a foreign-raised rookie applicant. Unconfirmed reports also have it that Norwood is currently playing in the rich European circuit. Besides Mercado and Reyes, a third Filipino-American Jared Dillinger also applied for the Draft Monday. Dillinger, a six-foot-five guard-forward, is seeing action for the Pampanga Buddies in the Liga Pilipinas. So far, 14 rookie prospects have been listed among the initial batch of players seeking to turn pro later this year, among them are TY Tang, Jeff Chan, Mark Borboran, Cholo Villanueva, Kelvin Gregorio and Kevin Dalafu. More are expected to follow suit with still a month to go (August 12) before the deadline for local players to submit their applications expires. Amateur standout Jason Castro is also looking forward to join the Draft despite being under contract to play for the Singapore Slingers in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). Castro, the two-time PBL Most Valuable Player (MVP), confirmed that the PBA already approved his request to have his name included in the Draft list, notwithstanding his commitment with the Singapore-based squad with which he's under contract for the next seven months. The PBA maintained that the team which gets to draft the five-foot-seven Philippine Christian U star point guard will own the rights on Castro prior to his debut in Asia's first ever play-for-pay league. The system has long been practiced in the NBA and other European leagues. - GMANews.TV