DAVE Ildefonso and top pick Justine Baltazar aren’t the only first-round draft selections who are not in the official roster of PBA Season 49.
Also missing is guard Mark Nonoy, who has yet to reach an agreement with Terrafirma.
Team governor Bobby Rosales said the team is still awaiting the clearance from Nonoy’s mother team in the MPBL, the Iloilo Royals, before it signs him to a contract and put him in the lineup.
READ Did Mark Nonoy's face turn gloomy after he was drafted by Dyip?
So far, he along with Ildefonso (Northport) and Baltazar (Converge) are the only first-round picks not included in the official Season 49 roster released by the league on Wednesday during the presser for the coming Governors’ Cup.
Ildefonso, the No. 5 overall selection, is still negotiating a deal with the Batang Pier while Baltazar said he’s bent on finishing his contract with Pampanga Giant Lanterns in the MPBL before coming on board the PBA late this year.
Nonoy, a member of the La Salle team that won the UAAP men’s basketball championship last year, was the No. 10 overall selection by the Dyip.
Curiously, his teammate at Iloilo Royals in CJ Cansino is already listed as part of the 15-man team of the Meralco Bolts, who signed him to a two-year contract.
Another Iloilo teammate in CJ Catapusan inked a contract with Terrafirma last week, although his name was likewise not included yet in the Dyip lineup submitted to the PBA.
The 5-foot-9 Nonoy hopes he’ll finally be given clearance by Iloilo management
“Sana nga as early as now, ma-release na nga ako,” he shared to SPIN.ph
If ever that happens, Nonoy said it will be an extreme joy for him since playing in Asia’s first ever play-for-pay league is a personal dream for him.
“Ito kasi yung pina-pangarap ko, kaya sobrang saya ako if ever,” he said.
Nonoy has been showing up in Terrafirma practices the past few weeks of which Iloilo Royals are very much aware, according to him.
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