Titans tab lesser-known Fil-Canadian

AMA Online Education selected Owen Graham as the top overall pick in the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League ( PBA D- League) Draft 2017 on Tuesday at the PBA Cafe in Metrowalk, Pasig City.

The Titans’ selection of the littleknown Filipino-Canadian player came as a shocker but AMA head coach Mark Herrera said the decision boiled down to familiarity.

“Owen Graham played for me for almost one year already. I’m familiar with his abilities and at the same time he already knows his teammates,” said Herrera of the 6-foot-4 forward.

“He (Graham) is going to be of big help to us because he is hardworking. He is aggressive in rebounding both defensively and offensively,” he added.

Wang’s Basketball-Colegio de San Juan de Letran chose Jerrick Balanza as the second pick followed by Allan Richard Martin ( Batangas- Emilio Aguinaldo College), Keanu Caballero ( Centro Escolar University), CJ Perez ( Zark’s Burger- Lyceum of the Philippines University), Mohammed Pare (Gamboa Coffee-St. Clare College), Leonardo Esguerra (Jose Rizal University), Kyle Toth (Marinerong Pilipino), RK Ilagan (Che’Lu Bar & Grill-San Sebastian College), Jose Bellosillo (Mila’s Lechon) and Kendrix Belgica (Go For Gold-College of St. Benilde).

Playoff contender AMA further bolstered its lineup, which is already led by Andre Paras, by picking Richard Escoto and Barkley Eboña of Far Eastern University (FEU), Michael Cañete, Richard Abanes and Levi Dela Cruz of Arellano University and Phillip Manalang of University of the East (UE) in the succeeding rounds.

Projected top picks Alvin Pasaol of UE and Arvin Tolentino of FEU landed on second round’s No. 8 (Marinero) and seventh round’s No. 9 (Che’Lu), respectively.

Other notable picks were Abu Tratter of De La Salle University and Vince Tolentino of Ateneo De Manila University (Marinero), Rob Ricafort (Che’Lu) and Javi Gomez De Liaño of University of the Philippines (Wang’s), and Hubert Cani of FEU (Wang’s).

Teams backed by National Collegiate Athletic Association schools mostly selected players from their respective programs.

Meanwhile, Akari- Adamson University and University of Perpetual Help System DALTA opted not to participate in the draft.