MANILA, Philippines — Filipino-Italian Dalph Panopio is bound for the US after committing to NCAA Division I school Cal State Bakersfield.
Panopio, a Gilas youth star point guard, officially signed on Friday (Saturday, Manila time) to play for the Roadrunners in the Big West Conference next year.
The 6'2" Panopio was raised in Italy and first made headlines in the adidas Next Generation Tournament back in 2018 where he posted norms of 17.8 points and 5.5 assists per game for his club Stella Azzurra.
In 2019, he manned the offense for the Batang Gilas in the Under-19 tournament in Greece with fellow youngters Kai Sotto and Dave Ildefonso.
In the tournament, he averaged five points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists for the Gilas youngsters.