KAI Sotto's impending arrival only brings more excitement to Gilas Pilipinas entering the third window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers in Clark.
And among those who feel that way is coach Jong Uichico.
"If he is definitely set to come, I am very excited to see how much he has improved," he told Spin.ph on Thursday.
Sotto's arrival is a big boost for the Philippines, which only needs one victory to advance to the continental tiff set later this year in Indonesia.
That also means that the 7-foot-3 wunderkind is skipping the planned NBA G League bubble in Orlando, where he was supposed to debut for Ignite come February.
Sotto has been training with the select team since October, and the public sure is raring to see how much the 18-year-old's game has developed as he prepares for this campaign, where he is touted to face off against naturalized players Ricardo Ratliffe (Ra Gun-A) of Korea and Lester Prosper of Indonesia.
Once he arrives, Sotto is expected to head straight to Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna where he will fight for minutes against PBA veterans Troy Rosario, Justin Chua, and Raul Soyud, as well as cadets Justine Baltazar, Isaac Go, William Navarro, and Kemark Carino.
Gilas is preparing for the third window in Clark where it is set to take on Korea on Feb. 18, Indonesia on Feb. 20, and Korea again on Feb. 22.
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