KAI Sotto is choosing flag and country, for now.
The 7-foot-3 center is set to skip the NBA G League bubble and instead will suit up for Gilas Pilipinas in the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers next month in Clark.
“I’m heading home soon. Sobrang excited ako na binigyan ng opportunity para makapaglaro sa Gilas ngayong February window,” Sotto said yesterday in a video posted on his Instagram account.
“Nagpapasalamat ako sa lahat ng sumusuporta at naniniwala sa aking pangarap na makapaglaro para sa bayan at sa tamang panahon, sa NBA,” he added.
Sotto, 18, is toughening up in the US for his coming stint with the pioneering squad Ignite in the G League in his bid to become the first homegrown Filipino to gain a foothold in the NBA.
The second batch of players likely made up of PBA stars in the Gilas training camp is expected to arrive today at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna.
NLEX guard Kiefer Ravena was the first PBA player who came last Jan. 10.
Center Isaac Go led the initial amateur-laden 12 that included twins Matt and Mike Nieto, guard Rey Suerte, forward Javi Gomez de Liaño, guard Dave Ildefonso, and big men Justine Baltazar, Calvin Oftana, William Navarro, Kemark Cariño, and Ateneo slotman Angelo Kouame of Ivory Coast, a candidate for naturalization.
Terrafirma wingman CJ Perez and Phoenix big man Justin Chua have joined last Jan. 15, while guard Roger Pogoy and big man Troy Rosario of TNT and center Raul Soyud of the Road Warriors will arrive today.
A former UAAP juniors’ MVP with Ateneo High School and a Gilas Youth mainstay, Sotto vowed not to disappoint if and when he makes it to the final 12.
“I am very blessed to have many supporters and I promise I won’t let you down,” Sotto said.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas has yet to announce the composition of the pool, however.
Under Gilas program director Tab Baldwin, coaches Jong Uichico, Boyet Fernandez, Sandy Arespacochaga, Caloy Garcia, and Norman Black, the Filipino cagers are readying for the qualifiers on Feb. 18 to 22 in a bubble.
Gilas tangles with South Korea on Feb. 18, a reset of their initial match that was scrapped in the second window, in Group A action, according to a schedule released by the FIBA.
The nationals square off with Indonesia on Feb. 20 and then South Korea on Feb. 22 anew.
The FIBA, however, has yet to release the time and venue for the matches.
