NBTC puts spotlight on U19 provincial hoop players

MANILA, Philippines — A bigger platform for rising teen basketball standouts.

That’s what the National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) hopes to provide as the under-19 national championship holds its inaugural Regional Championships (RC) in early 2024.

“What we came up with for this coming season is to really highlight the provincial players,” said NBTC program director Eric Altamirano during the introductory press conference at the Mall of Asia Arena on Thursday, November 16.

“We wanted to put them on a platform or stage that they would be the stars, they will be seen and given enough exposure so that when they arrive in the nationals, there’s noise already, there’s something that we can talk about with these players,” he added.

The province of Ilocos Norte will kick things off in the North Luzon RC at Laoag Centennial Arena on January 18 to 21, 2024, where the program was personally welcomed by Governor Matthew Manotoc, who was in attendance during the event.

It will be followed by the Mindanao RC, which will be hosted by Sarangani at the province’s Sports Training Center from February 1 to 4.

Also set to roll off are the Visayas RC at the famed Cebu Coliseum from February 15 to 18, and the South Luzon RC at the Batangas City Sports Center from February 29 to March 3.

The top four that will emerge from each RC will claim a slot in the NBTC National Finals at the MOA Arena from March 18 to 24.

Fil-foreign teams from other parts of the world such as the United States, Italy, Canada, and Australia will also see action in the event, which saw the likes of Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green, Gilas center Kai Sotto, and many of the Philippines’ young stars strut their stuff the past years.

During the 2023 edition, young stars such as Jared Bahay and Rein Jumamoy headlined the tilt, as well as USA Basketball young prospect JJ Mandaquit.

Jumamoy, the UAAP Season 85 Juniors Most Valuable Player, led the NU Bullpups to the championship against the Mandaquit-led FilNation Select-USA. — Rappler.com