WILL a Jeremiah Gray case happen again in the coming PBA Draft?
Yes. Not once, but twice.
Luis Villegas and Zav Lucero applied for the Sept. 17 proceedings both coming off ACL surgeries, and yet prospects of them being picked in the first round are high.
That was the case with Gray in last year’s draft, when the Fil-Am wingman also made himself available while coming off ACL surgery yet was selected No. 2 overall by Terrafirma, which later traded him to Barangay Ginebra for Javie Gomez De Liano and Brian Enriquez just two days following the draft.
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The Gray gamble paid off for the Kings as the 6-5 winger became a major part of the team’s smashing success in the Commissioner’s Cup when it defeated the Bay Area Dragons in the deciding Game 7, 114-99.
So will there be teams willing to take a risk again on Lucero and Villegas, just like Gray?
TNT deputy coach Mau Belen thinks so, especially the 6-foot-7 Villegas who she handled in the PBA 3x3 as part of the multi-titled Triple Giga unit.
“A very good and kind kid,” she said of the University of the East stalwart, who went down with the injury last April. “Malayo ang mararating for sure.”
Despite being a one-and-done at UE last season, Villegas was so good he was named to the UAAP Mythical selection along with the Ateneo duo of Dave Ildefonso and Forthsky Padrigao, and the University of the Philippines’ Carl Tamayo and MVP Malick Diouf.
The 26-year-old Fil-Am averaged 13.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.9 steals in his lone season with the Recto-based school.
“I don’t think he’s going lower than five,” said Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo of Villegas, who attended the Draft Combine but didn’t participate in the skills test and 5-on-5 as he’s not allowed yet to do physical contacts.
The 6-foot-6 Lucero on the other hand, was instrumental in the two UAAP finals appearances of the UP Maroons the past two seasons, including the Fighting Maroons’ run to their first championship in 36 years in 2022.
He suffered the ACL injury during Game 2 of the finals last season against eventual champion Ateneo.
Like Gray in the past, Lucero is still rehabbing in the US and would not be able to attend the draft event.
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