SBP holds Fil-foreign camp in US

MANILA, Philippines - The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas is opening a training camp in Las Vegas, Nevada to scout Filipino-foreign players as part of its thrust of expanding the Smart Gilas Pilipinas national pool.

SBP executive director Noli Eala said 15 players have confirmed participation in the camp slated April 24-26. These include US NCAA Division I starters Stanley Pringle of Penn State U and Chris Lutz of Marshall U.

Pringle is a 6-1 point guard who boasts of a whopping 42” vertical leap, a 44-percent three-point shooting accuracy and a reputation as one of the quickest guards in the tough Big 10 Conference. Lutz is a 6-3 guard who is reportedly a prolific scorer.

“The SBP is excited and delighted to see the great enthusiasm shown by our young players to join our national team program,” said Eala, who recently came from a successful trip from Belgrade, Serbia where the Rajko Toroman-mentored team played local teams.

“This is a testimony to the vision and leadership of MVP. We are confident that the Philippines is now on the right track to regaining respectability in the Asian cage scene,” he added.

Ray Parks, son of former many-time PBA Best Import Bobby Parks, 6-9 Japeth Aguilar of Western Kentucky U and 6-8 Gian Chiu of Oberlin College are also being invited to attend.

Also confirming their participation are John Brick of Citadel U, Ryan Arceo of Chaminad U, Sean Anthony of McGill U, Marco Lassiter of Cal State Fullerton, Kameron Steinhoff of Hawaii Pacific U, Nic Hailey of Arsenal Tech, Ryan Wetherel and John Lasa of Sait Trojans.

Former Nokia RP Youth standout 6-6 Kyle Pascual will join the camp as well as Fil-German Christian Stanhardinger, who played for the Under-19 team of Germany, and Fil-Canadian 6-2 Matthew Wright of Toronto.

Eala said this is just the initial list and they are expecting more to join when the camp opens.

“This is just our initial list, maybe we’ll attract more to join us,” said Eala.

The Smart Gilas Pilipinas team has an initial roster composed of the country’s top collegiate players headed by skippers Chris Tiu of Ateneo and Mark Barroca of Far Eastern U.

The Nationals, who are seeking a berth in the 2012 London Olympics, are also in search of a tall foreign player that the country is planning to naturalize to help them in the post.

“That’s our next step,” said Eala.