Pinoy tries out for NBA D-League
MANILA - Pinoy basketball player Japeth Aguilar is now in Los Angeles and is in the thick of tryouts for the National Basketball Association Developmental League (D-League).
Aguilar’s journey in the United States was first reported by ABS-CBN News in 2007 when he officially became the first homegrown Pinoy to be recruited by a Division 1 basketball team from the US National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
After a couple of offers, Aguilar chose Western Kentucky University (WKU).
Aguilar rose in the local basketball scene as a 6’9’’ hotshot rookie of Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles in the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP).
He, however, only played one season and opted to try his luck in the US NCAA where he felt he could reach his maximum potential and even get a shot at making the NBA.
But in the two years he had on the line-up of WKU, he was hampered by foot injuries, limiting his exposure and eventually his growth as a basketball player.
Despite this, Aguilar still had a good experience with the team as WKU entered the sweet 16 and round of 8 in the NCAA national tournament. He was also teammates with Orlando Magic’s star rookie, Courtney Lee.
Now that Japeth has graduated from WKU, he has wide open doors waiting for him in the PBA and even the RP team.
But as of now, he wants to try his luck in the NBA through the D-League.
“This is really an opportunity for the players to come to one location in front of all our coaches, a lot of our scouts, league office people who'll eventually sign the players to contracts,” Chris Alpert told the ABS-CBN News North America Bureau.
Alpert is the vice president of Basketball Operations and Player Personnel for the NBA D-League.
He added that the D-League is “an opportunity for them to showcase their skills to show what they can possibly do in the NBA D-League level.”
Aguilar, meanwhile, shared, “This experience is really good. You get a chance to compete with other people that are trying to make it to the next level too.”
“You know they are going to give it their best. You can see how you compare yourself to them,” he said of other NBA D-League hopefuls.
He added, “It's going to be hard but it's not going to be impossible. This is just a stepping-stone. I've already spoken to a lot of teams. Hopefully, I can do well.”
In fact, an NBA scout has already spotted the potential and athleticism of Aguilar.
“He's got a lot of potential. Athletically, he can run with the best big mans out there,” said Hernando Planell, scout for NBA Director of Scouting Services Marty Blake.
“He's long, athletic. He's great. He had a block shot on a three pointer earlier. I think those are things that are definitely going to help him,” added Plannel.
He continued, “Athleticism is the key to the game. Whether it's international or the NBA so I think he has the potential to do some damage.”
A lot of people agree that given the time and exposure, Aguilar sure has a good shot at being the first Pinoy to make it to the NBA.
For the meantime, Aguilar is set to return to the Philippines to join the RP team for the Jones Cup in July and FIBA-Asia men’s championship in August.
Subject: PBA/NBA news here 
