Prospect draftees show off at the PBA Draft Combine.
With the PBA Rookie Draft happening on Sunday, Encho Serrano shone the brightest at the Draft Combine as he took home the MVP honors on Thursday.
The former De La Salle guard led Team A1 Converge in their 67-53 win over Team B2 Rain or Shine. Pouring in 15 points in his last game, he averaged 14 points in three games all throughout the mini tournament.
Team A1 Converge are composed of JM Calma (San Sebastian), Levi dela Cruz (Arellano), Nino Ibañez (Lyceum), and Enzo Joson (NU), who bagged the top prize of P50,000.
Other standouts from the two-day activity were Shaun Ildefonso topping the agility test with 3.46 seconds on the first day. Chris Lalata, meanwhile, had the best standing vertical jump with 134 inches, while also having the second-longest arm span with 6-foot-7 inches.
Serrano bannered the Mythical Five that featured Shaun Ildefonso (NU), Kurt Lojera (La Salle), Ato Ular (Letran), and JayR dela Rosa (AMA University).
This year's draft had 75 applicants, although that number is expected to be reduced to somewhere between 55 and 60 by draft day.
Some of the top prospects in this year’s draft class didn't show up. Among the 17 rookies who had a no show were Brandon Ganuelas Rosser, also Ateneo’s Ateneo's Gian Mamuyac, Tyler Tio, and BJ Andrade.
But the biggest name to back out was Justine Baltazar, who did not show up for the two-day activity and later sent word that he was formally withdrawing his application to pursue a potentially lucrative stint in Japan.
The Draft Combine aims to let the prospect draftees showcase their skills to the different teams in the NBA. The PBA will release the final list of eligible players today for the draft happening on Sunday, May 15.
Tags: #PBA, #basketball, #TeamA1Converge, #sports