HAS Kai Sotto played his final game for Ateneo?
That obviously was the case after the Blue Eaglets bowed out of the 2019 Chooks-to-Go NBTC League National Finals, falling to FilAm Sports USA, 90-67, in the Supreme 16 round on Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
The 7-foot-2 prodigy finished with 24 points and eight rebounds in the losing effort but got on the wrong end of a highlight reel when he was posterized by Filipino-American high-flyer Jalen Green in the second quarter.
Even the team appeared to acknowledge that possibility, with the Blue Eaglets giving the gangling Sotto a warm embrace when he trooped to the bench with the outcome beyond doubt.
Sotto is at the crossroads, with European teams intent on securing his services. The wunderkind said he wanted to make a decision once his NBTC obligations ended even before the start of the national high school basketball championship.
That situation, though, changed after the Blue Eaglets emerged from the dugout following the loss. Sotto kept silent, telling the media about his father Ervin's directive to refrain from issuing any more statements.
Pregnant silence.
With Sotto opting to keep mum, the wait continues on his next move. But judging from the 16-year-old's demeanor and word coming out of campus, the answer to the question couldn't be any more obvious.
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