CEBUANO forward Leonard Santillan has announced that he is foregoing joining the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Draft this season to focus on the next season of the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3.
The 6-foot-5 University of the Visayas product, who is projected to be a top-five pick in the upcoming PBA Draft, explained that aside from the opinion of his family, the words of his teammate Alvin Pasaol also resounded with him.
Pasaol had already announced a few days earlier that he won’t be joining the pro ranks just yet to focus on helping the Philippines reach the Olympics in 3x3 basketball.
"Yung mga taong nasa paligid ko, yung family ko sinabihan ko na may offer galing sa Chooks. Pumayag naman sila pati mama ko na hindi muna ko magpra-draft," said Santillan on Tuesday evening, October 1, 2019.
"Si Alvin lagi ko rin kasama, tapos lagi niya ko sinasabihan na para sa bayan naman ito, eh."
After playing for the Green Lancers, the pride of Lapu-Lapu City moved to La Salle before completing his D-League residency earlier this year after playing for Marinerong Pilipino and, later on, the Go for Gold-Benilde Blazers.
During that time, he also played for the Wilkins-Balanga Pure in the country's first league dedicated to 3x3 basketball. In Chooks 3x3, he was able to play in a number of different FIBA 3x3 World Tours and Challengers. Wanting to experience more of those led him to stay for one more year.
"Siyempre, kapag naglalaro ka sa 3x3, may chance ka na makalaban yung best of the best sa ibang bansa kaya grabe yung commitment ko dito," said the top under-23 3x3 player in the country, who is also ranked as the country's third-best player.
And he can't wait to have one more run with Pasaol after the duo steered Balanga to the top during the Magiting Cup. "Gusto ko pa makasama si Pasaol." (SunStar Cebu)