Fil-Am hoops prospect suits up for Team USA in FIBA U-16 Americas tourney

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-American teen stalwart JJ Mandaquit will play for Team USA in the 2023 FIBA U16 Americas Championship next week in Mexico.

In an announcement by USA Basketball, the 6-foot-1 guard has been named in the final 12-man roster for the regional tilt on June 5 to 11, which will serve as a qualifier for the U17 World Cup qualifier in Turkey next year.

Mandaquit, from Honolulu, Hawaii, is currently playing high school basketball for Real Salt Lake Academy in Utah and suited up for Fil-Nation Select in the 2023 Smart-National Basketball Training Center finals this summer.

The crafty floor general was part of the NBTC Mythical Team with National U-Nazareth School’s Reinhard Jumamoy and RJ Colonia as well as Jared Bahay and Raffy Celis of Sacred Heart school-Ateneo de Cebu.

He dropped 16 points and six rebounds in the finals but Fil-Nation Select fell short to three-peat champion NU, 75-64.

His impressive play in the United States has gained interest from a bevy of top programs led by Utah State.

Jalen Green, now a Houston Rocket in the NBA, was the last Fil-American standout who played in the NBTC and represented Team USA back in the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup, where he went up against Kai Sotto and Gilas Pilipinas.

For Gilas youth, the road to the 2024 U17 World Cup will be on Sept. 17 to 24 in Doha, Qatar. Gilas U16 failed to book a World Cup ticket in Spain this year after a seventh-place finish in the Asian championships also in Doha.