THE BIG DREAMER
Kai ready to fly high
It was in Greece where Kai drew a lot of attention matching up with blue-chip players like Argentina’s Francisco Caffaro, Greece’s Aristotelis Sotiriou, and Russia’s Sergey Dolinin
Standing 7-foot-2, Kai Sotto is going all the way in his dream to become the first homegrown player to see action in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Born in the summer of 2002, Kai is the eldest of three siblings of Ervin, a 6-foot-8 former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) standout, and Kai Zachary Perlado.
Kai’s sister is Erin, who is seven years his junior, and Tim, who was born in 2016.
He started playing basketball against older neighbors and played his first organized basketball for Saint Francis of Assisi — his father’s alma mater.
Kai attended numerous basketball clinics, including the Jr. NBA Camp where his size and skills were noticed.
After turning 14, Kai brought his game from Las Piñas to Quezon City where he joined the Ateneo de Manila University Junior High School’s basketball program.
He first played under coach Ron
Camara for Ateneo de Manila’s Milo Passerelle team in 2016 before being called by coach Joe Silva to join the Blue Eaglets.
There, he teamed up with SJ Belangel, Dave Ildefonso, and Jason Credo, among others.
No Atenean before him made the varsity team younger than Sotto, the closest was Kiefer Ravena who was about the same age when he saw action in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.
Despite starting the season riding the bench, Kai got more playing time as the tournament wore on and bagged the Rookie of the Year plum with averages of 4.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and a league-leading 1.5 blocks per game.
The following season, Kai and his teammates ran roughshod over the competition, winning all 14 elimination games.
The Eaglets forged a return match with the National University Bullpups, who won their best-of-three title series.
Kai normed 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 6.3 blocks per game in the finals and was named Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP).
He was even more dominant in Season 81, leading Ateneo to the finals by posting herculean averages of 25.1 points, 13.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.6 blocks per game to become the runaway season MVP.
However, the Blue Eaglets fell to the Bullpups in their title series.
Kai played for the Batang Gilas national youth team that won the 2017 Southeast Asian Basketball Association U16 Championship at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
He held more than his own against Asia’s other big men as the Philippines booked a ticket to the FIBA U17 World Cup in Argentina following an impressive stint in the 2018 FIBA U16 Asia Championship in Foshan, China.
Against the world’s best young players, Kai shone in Argentina, leading the Filipinos to two victories.
That same year, Kai formed a twin tower combo with 6-foot-11 Filipino-Nigerian AJ Edu in the 2018 FIBA U18 Asia Championship in Thailand where the Filipinos qualified for the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup in Heraklion, Greece.
It was in Greece where Kai drew a lot of attention matching up with blue-chip players like Argentina’s Francisco Caffaro, Greece’s Aristotelis Sotiriou, and Russia’s Sergey Dolinin.
Scouts kept Kai under the radar, attending even the team’s practices.
At the end of University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 81, Kai completed his studies and pondered on his options.
There’s nowhere to go but the
United States where he has a chance to polish his skills and draw more attention. Accompanied by his father, Kai moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he joined The Skills Factory (TSF), an organization aiming to help young aspiring athletes with a sports-specific curriculum complemented by character development.
At TSF, Kai received the more robust training and exposure his dream required. US NCAA Division I programs began to take serious note of the Filipino gentle giant with visits to the Kentucky Wildcats, Auburn Tigers, and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets as the highlights.
Kai also got nationally ranked by different United States-based recruiting services, peaking as a four-star recruit for Rivals (No. 67 overall), 247Sports (No. 52 overall), and ESPN (No. 63 overall). Kai, however, would not go the US NCAA route and, instead, to follow top-ranked high school player Jalen Green, a Filipino-American, to the NBA G League’s professional pathway program.
Foregoing US NCAA eligibility, Kai will test his skills in the G League’s development program to get ready for the 2021 NBA Draft.
Brian Shaw, a member of champions team Los Angeles Lakers, will coach him in the Select Team. Indeed, the big kid has come a long, long way from his barangay court days in Las Pinas to the global stage.
And his dreams are far bigger than his frame.