AFTER the inspiring showing of the Gilas women’s team, focus turns to the Batang Gilas team set to compete in the Fiba World Cup U19 tournament in Heraklion, Greece.
Following the arrival of US-trained Kai Sotto on Saturday night, the SBP officially announced the 14-man roster comprising the Gilas Pilipinas Youth team competing in the June 28 to July 7 meet.
The 7-foot-1 Sotto will be joined in the frontcourt by 6-foot-9 AJ Edu, a US NCAA All-Freshman Team selection from the University of Toledo, along with highly-touted Fil-Italian Dalph Adem Panopio, Sean Ildefonso, Xyrus Torres, Gerry Abadiano, John Bismarck Lina, Shaun Geoffrey Chiu, Carl Vincent Tamayo, Rhayyan Amsali, Miguel Andre Oczon, Terrence Fortea, and James Daniel Spencer.
Head coach is Sandy Arespacochaga and he will be assisted by deputies Goldwin Monteverde, Charles Tiu, and Jen Ryn Betia, with Giancarlo George Yorobe as strength and conditioning coach.
“The SBP is pleased to announce the 14-man roster of the Gilas Pilipinas Youth U19 that will compete in the FIBA U19 World Cup in Heraklion, Greece,” said SBP president Al Panlilio.
“We are excited to see how our team, the tallest ever assembled, will compete against the best teams in the world in their age group.”
The Youth team’s campaign comes on the heels of the stirring quarterfinals stints of two separate 3x3 women’s team in the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup in Changsha, China and the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup in Mongolia, respectively.
Sotto’s arrival from the U.S together with his family where he trained for the past two months with some of the best professional-level basketball players and strength and conditioning coaches, completed the cast.
The 17-year-old Sotto, handled by East West Private, already practiced with the team that’s set to leave for Doha, Qatar on June 27 where it will set up a training camp and play some tune-up games before proceeding to Greece.

“The SBP is determined to continue to strengthen the Gilas Pilipinas Youth program. Special thanks to our main sponsor SMART Communications, which has been supporting the program for the longest time. It is rewarding to see all our hardwork paying off,” said Panlilio.
The Gilas Pilipinas Youth team is bracketed Group C where it plays the host team for its opening match (June 29), followed by Argentina (June 30), and Russia (July 2).
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