PVL commissioner Sherwin Malonzo is not shying away from the shortcomings of the league's third Rookie Draft.
Fresh off a 2026 edition that saw a record-low 11 draftees out of 38 applicants, witnessed a surprise first-round pass by Akari, and had high-profile withdrawals just days before draft night, Malonzo acknowledged that the system remains a work in progress.
“It's not perfect, but we're trying our best to improve the draft and the system and the regulations. Given ‘yung mga nangyari the past days, I think magandang learning for us, for the draft committee, how to improve the regulations,” Malonzo told SPIN.ph.
The commissioner pointed to a combination of factors behind the unusually lean draft.
READ: WHO WENT WHERE: Only 11 of 38 rookie hopefuls picked in PVL Draft
One was the shrinking number of available roster spots across the league, especially in light of departures of quite a few teams in recent years.
“You're looking, on average, na parang 60 players na kumalat du’n sa nine teams. Kung ganun karami ‘yung na-spread out sa nine teams, mahirap na kumuha ng bagong players,” he said, referring to player movements following the exits of Chery Tiggo, Petro Gazz, and Cignal.
Indeed, the draft numbers reflected that reality. Only 11 players were selected, less than a third of the applicant pool, as compared to the 23 out of 47 in 2024 then 29 out of 57 in 2025.
“Na-foresee namin ‘yan nu’ng first year pa lang eh, that there will come a point in time na lahat ng teams, mapupuno,” said Malonzo.
“‘Yun ‘yung pinag-uusapan namin kanina: how do we fix this? Pero kasi mahirap din. Unlike sa college kasi, players will stay four or five years then they go. Sa pro kasi, you can stay up to 10, 15 years and still play. Dadami at dadami ang players talaga."
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night came from the Chargers, who became the first team in recent Philippine sports history to voluntarily pass on a first-round selection, even doing so at fifth overall.
Malonzo said Akari's decision ultimately came down to its roster construction and organizational needs.
“It's based on needs eh. I think Akari, parang they decided to stick with their current pool. Thinking out loud, I think they also have a young team, sina Fifi [Sharma], sina Ced [Domingo], hindi pa unlike the teams like Creamline na kailangan mag-start na mag-transition na,” he said.
On late withdrawals
Another area Malonzo identified for improvement was the entire process of players pushing through with the draft.
The list lost erstwhile consensus No. 1 pick Alyssa Solomon, four-time UAAP best middle blocker Niña Ytang, and several others just days before - a situation the league now believes could have been handled better through an earlier deadline.
“Isang fault namin as a group is baka masyadong late din ‘yung withdrawal. Pinayagan kasi namin na late mag-withdraw, thinking na baka kasi may mga players na they would decide na mag-UAAP muna kami," he said.
"But I think hindi kami dapat nag-isip nang ganun. Dapat inisip lang namin is about the draft.”
Despite the unexpected twists, Malonzo stopped short of calling the outcome alarming.
As he put it, “Not really a cause for concern, but it's a learning on how to prepare better.”
“Kasi past two years, ‘di naman na-experience yung ganito. So something new. Although we thought of it the first time we designed the draft, we didn't expect naman kaagad na mangyayari ‘to,” he added.
Now comes the postmortem.
With another cycle in the books, Malonzo said discussions are already underway on how to refine the process moving forward, armed with lessons from what may have been the most unpredictable and imperfect draft yet.
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