SAN BEDA point guard Evan Nelle gets the chance to become the first player to repeat as SM-National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP).
The implementation of the K to 12 secondary education program has extended the playing careers of high-school players and Nelle will have the opportunity to become back-to-back MVP when the SM-NBTC National High School Championships and All-Star Games get under way from March 12 to 16 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
From a pool of more than 70 of the best high-school players from all over the country who participated in the two-day trials at the San Beda College Gym recently under the watchful eye of NBTC tournament organizers Eric Altamirano and Alex Compton and tournament director Ato Badolato, the list was pared down to 26 names.
Besides Nelle, also returning are Chiang Kai Shek College’s Jonas Tibayan and John Galinato, National University’s John Lloyd Clemente and Rhayyan Amsali, San Beda’s Germy Mahinay and Sam Abuhijleh, Malayan High School’s Sherwin Concepcion, University of the Philippines’s Juan Gomez de Liaño and University of the Visayas’s Jan Cork Cabahug.
One of the prominent first-timers is Adamson University’s Florencio “Encho” Serrano, who was dropped from the Baby Falcons roster in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) for failure to meet eligibility requirements.
As a result, the UAAP forfeited Adamson University’s then-league leading 12 wins and the Far Eastern University Baby Tamaraws eventually won the crown.
The other new names include Ateneo de Manila’s Sam Josef Belangel, Dave Ildefonso and Kai Sotto, and La Salle Greenhills’s Troy Malilin.
An additional four slots, two from the North and South Teams, are being saved for the best players from Filipino-foreign squads from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. The Division 2 Championships featuring provincial teams will be played on March 15.
The Division 1 and 2 Finals will be covered and aired by ABS-CBN Sports + Action on March 16 at 6 and 8 p.m. with the All-Star Games aired on March 17 at 2 p.m.