KAI Sotto is signing with Australian National Basketball League team Adelaide 36ers.
Shams Charania of The Athletic broke the story early Wednesday morning, signalling a new beginning for the Filipino 7-foot-3 prospect.
The career move of the Filipino teen was leaked on Twitter ahead of a roundtable interview with select journalists arranged by Smart and East West Private.
In the same online interview, Sotto announced that he will be playing for Gilas Pilipinas in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in June and the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup.
Sotto, 18, confirmed the news, saying he has made the decision to take his act to Australia just months after parting ways with Team Ignite in the NBA G League.
The Adelaide 36ers also announced that they have signed Sotto to a multi-year deal beginning in the NBL's 2021-2022 season.
The 36ers said Sotto agreed to play for the Aussie side for two seasons, with a player option for a third, in a deal struck with the help of agent Joel Bell.
"We are delighted to welcome Kai, both to the club and the City of Adelaide," said the 36ers chairman Grant Kelley in a story posted on the teams official website.
"Attracting a player of Kai's potential from Asia, and more recently the United States, to Adelaide will only enhance the club's reputation for identifying and developing elite basketball talent."
Sotto is set to become the first Filipino to play in the Australian pro league under the league's Special Restricted Player rule which, Adelaide said, seeks to foster better relations with the rest of the Fiba Asia region.
Gilas mainstay Jayson Castro nearly became the first Filipino in the NBL back in 2008, but his Singapore-based Slingers team pulled out of the Australian league before he can make his debut.
[See How Jayson Castro almost became first Filipino to play in NBL]
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