Cortez to turn pro?

La Salle point guard Mike Cortez isn’t sure of applying for the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) draft scheduled on Jan. 13. He’s still making up his mind. Cortez, 21, has until the end of this year to signify his intention or else he loses his chance to jump to the pros next season.

Holding Cortez back is his loyalty to La Salle. Archers coach Franz Pumaren has intimated that Cortez would be better off playing a final year for La Salle in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) to gain more experience before applying for the PBA draft.

But Cortez may be ready to go – or at least, he thinks so. From all indications, the coming draft could be the richest ever in PBA history. The estimate is there will be about 80 applicants from the Fil-Am ranks, the Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA), and the amateur leagues.

If Cortez waits another year, he might lose the opportunity of playing for a PBA team whose immediate draft priority is a point guard. The job that is available now might be gone next season. So Cortez is weighing his options closely.

The constraint is the PBA isn’t expanding. With only 10 teams and a bumper rookie crop expected next season, the competition for spots will be fierce. Perhaps, the solution is expansion – if the PBA Board of Governors agrees.

What could make Cortez decide, one way or the other, is his performance in the national team tryouts that started yesterday. He was tapped by coach Ron Jacobs to report to the Lorenzo gym.

If he holds his own against the pros in the tryouts, Cortez might just take the plunge. He hopes to consult Jacobs on what the national coach thinks of his level of maturity – if he’s ready for the PBA or not. One thing for sure, Cortez is excited about participating in the tryouts and will go all out to earn a spot in one of two candidates teams that Jacobs is forming to play in the PBA First Conference starting Feb. 10.

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Three Fil-Ams confirmed to join the coming PBA draft are 6-4 Francis Navales Rauschmayer, Jr., 6-1 Tom Arceno, and 6-3 Leo Vitas Yanogacio, Jr. Their agent happens to be Photokina executive George Balagtas’ wife Raquel who brought in John Arigo this year.

George says the three would-be rookies will be in town early next year. He’s now working on their Department of Justice (DOJ) clearance.

One of the prospects, Rauschmayer, is arriving with IMG Academies director Joe Abunassar and skills coach Tony Tucker, a National Basketball Association (NBA) veteran. Tucker works with former Boston Celtics center Robert Parish at the IMG Academies basketball school in Braddenton, Florida, where Rauschmayer is now enrolled. IMG Academies is owned by tennis pro Nick Bollitieri and has facilities for major sports in its 10-acre campus.

Rauschmayer, 22, was the MVP in the 1997 US Filipino league All-Star Game where he shot 41 points. He averaged 30 points in 20 games and was the MVP in the Filipino Basketball Association, another US league, in1999-2000.

"He’s as good a shooter as Arigo but he’s more physical and a better defender," says George. "He intends to be the most exciting rookie next season and promises to outshine Mark Caguioa and Jay-Jay Helterbrand."

Arceno, 23, was Arigo’s teammate in the US Filipino league where he averaged 28 points last year. He saw action for the Lake Howell high school varsity.

But the potential superstar in George’s batch is Yanogacio who hit at a 15-point clip and grabbed 5.8 rebounds in 25 games for the Rutgers-Neward Scarlet Raiders varsity this past season. The 6-3, 200-pound guard shot. 371 from three-point range and was coach Chris Casey’s first offensive option.

Yanogacio plays both point and offguard. "I feel that if a small person is on me, I can post him up and score," he said in an e-mail. "If a big and tall person is guarding me, I feel I can beat him off the dribble and score. I feel I can guard anybody from point guard to power forward."

George says Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao is reviewing import candidates for the First Conference. If Red Bull gives up at least two players to Jacobs’ candidates teams, the PBA will allow the Thunder to recruit two imports with a combined height of 13 feet. An option is 7-foot, 265-pound center Benoit Benjamin who played 15 years in the NBA. Benjamin’s drawback is he’s 37 but he’s a legitimate seven-footer. If he’s signed up, his import partner can only stand up to six feet.

Two ex-PBA imports applying to return are Sean Higgins and Jevon Crudup.

Six Red Bull locals were invited to the national team tryouts – Harp, Pennisi, Junthy Valenzuela, Kerby Raymundo, Jimwell Torion and Willie Miller.

George also says Red Bull trainer Kirk Collier of South Carolina State is volunteering to act as the national team’s skills trainer. Collier, 40, recently turned down an offer to coach a US school at an annual salary of $80,000 because he’s decided to settle here. Collier is now in the US disposing of his assets and will be back here in a few weeks.

George says Collier has done wonders in polishing the skills of the Red Bull players, particularly big men Harp and Pennisi. "He stresses the fundamentals – he’s a back-to-basics guy, "continues George. "He likes it here because we’ve got so much young, natural talent that’s just waiting to be developed. The challenge is here, not in the US."

George confides that Pennisi’s younger brother David – a 6-10, 260-pound Italian league veteran – was in Manila for a brief visit some months back. David played at Eastern Michigan University, the same NCAA Division I school where Mick saw action for three years. David was Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL) Rookie of the Year runner -up in 1998. The Pennisi brothers played for the NBL’s Townsville Crocodiles in 1998-99.

If David decides to join the PBA draft in January, the odds are he’ll be the No. 1 overall pick. But is it true that older brother Mick is dissuading him from playing here? Could it be a case of sibling rivalry?