Red Warriors, Tam loom as PBL top picks

The 1-2 punch of the University of the East and a talented guard from the Far Eastern University loom as the possible top picks when the Philippine Basketball League holds its Rookie Draft today at 10 a.m. for the coming Silver Cup.

Bonbon Custodio and Mark Anthony Borboran, which stood out as among the exciting players in the recent UAAP basketball tournament, will vie with former Tamaraw top gun Jonas Villanueva for the No. 1 pick overall which is owned by Magnolia Ice Cream.

Magnolia has plenty of choices to make since a total of 125 players have made themselves available for today’s draft to be held at the PBL office on West Tower of the Phil. Stock Exchange Center in Pasig City.

This year’s batch, according to commissioner Chino Trinidad, is the deepest and perhaps the most talented in years, considering that some rising stars from Cebu have also signified their intention to play in the country’s premier amateur league.

Aside from the three high-scoring players from UAAP, also joining the draft are Lei Mar Navarro and Robby David of Philippine Christian University, John Derek Dizon of MLQU and twin Fil-Australians Andre and Jonathan Plonsker.

Leading the Cebuanos is 6-foot-3 forward Jayford Rodriguez while nine players from National University, led by Edwin Asoro and Jonathan Fernandez and two from Adamson, including the son of former pro player — Paul Danro Gonzalgo — also in the list, each one hoping to carve a name in the league.

Rodriguez, the star of University of Visayas, David and Navarro are expected to be taken by Hapee Toothpaste.

The three other UE players — slam dunk champion Elmer Espiritu, Kelvin Gregorio and Lawrence Briones — are also up for grabs.

Harbour Centre, which is chasing another title after its breakthrough win in the Unity Cup, is eyeing Asoro and Fernandez to bolster its offensive rotation following the exit of its star players, among them LA Tenorio and Joseph Yeo.

"Masyadong malalim ang pagpilian ngayon, tiyak na mahihirapan ang mga teams ngayon," said Trinidad. "Halos kumpleto ngayon."

Magnolia, already a proud winner of two titles in the last five conferences, earned the right to pick first after sending Kim Valenzuela to TeleTech in exchange for the Titans’ first and second rounds picks.

The order of the drafting, however, will be finalized late in the afternoon due to several transactions among the participating teams.