Thirteen Cebuanos have been selected to join the huge 50-man pool that will compete for spots for the national team that will vie for gold in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) men’s basketball competitions.
The 10 players from the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) who are set to be invited are two-time Cesafi MVP Mark Jayven Tallo and his teammates on Southwestern University (SWU), Melvin Holper, Jasper Parker, Daryl Goloran and Adams Mohammed.
Last year’s Cesafi runners-up University of San Carlos (USC) will be represented by skipper Nico Magat and Ian Bensig while the University of the Visayas (UV) had three of its standouts invited as well in John Abad, Alfred Codilla and Leonard Santillan.
According to Tallo, the selection is a great honor which would motivate him to work even harder.
“I’m really flattered by the selection. That’s 50 of the best amateur players in the country today and I was selected to be one of them. This will just motivate me to work even harder in order to make the cut for the national team,” Tallo said.
Magat, on the other hand, said that this is a wonderful opportunity to experience basketball at the elite level.
“Usa na sad ni ka blessing na niabot and an opportunity na makaabot na sad sa lain lugar and lain na level sa basketball,” said Magat, the former San Beda Red Cub.
The three other Cebuanos who were also invited are Ateneo’s Jerie Marlon Pingoy, a former University of Cebu Baby Webmasters; Paul Desiderio of the University of the Philippines, a former juniors MVP of the Cesafi and Joseph Sedurifa of Centro Escolar University, a former MVP of the NAASCU and an ex-stalwart of the University of Southern Philippines Foundation.
The pool, which includes a who’s-who of amateur basketball, is expected to be pored over by head coach Tab Baldwin in preparation for the SEA Games and the SEABA tournaments.
Some of the more notable names in the pool are Bobby Ray Parks, Kiefer Ravena, Jeron Teng, Baser Amer, Scottie Thompson, Art dela Cruz and Kobe Paras.