Philippines NBA prospect Kai Sotto skips college for G League: reports

• The 7’2” centre turned 18 on Monday and reportedly signed for NBA’s development league ahead of 2021 draft
• Sotto, who has been training in US since last April, has stated his desire to become first fully-Filipino NBA player

Jonathan White

Published: 12:10pm, 12 May, 2020

Philippines basketball hope Kai Sotto has decided to skip college to sign for the NBA’s G League, according to reports on Monday.

Sotto will become the G League’s first international player, according to journalist Shams Charania of The Athletic website.

The centre, who turned 18 on Monday, is being heralded as potentially becoming the first fully-Filipino NBA player and he took a step closer to his dream on Monday by signing for the development league.

“There hasn’t been any full-blooded Filipino that has been to the NBA and I just want to be the first one and I just want to show everyone that we can also make it,” Sotto told Bleacher Report in a mini-documentary earlier this year.

It is a move that ESPN said could be worth more US$500,000 over a one-year deal and allows his development outside the regular G League structure, as part of a new initiative to stop NBA draft prospects heading to Australia’s National Basketball League.Sotto’s reputation has grown over recent years as he moved to the US last April to develop his game and began to attract the attention of college and NBA scouts.

The 7’2” teen has been playing at The Skills Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, since moving to the US.

He also featured in the Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Global Camp held over 2020 All-Star Weekend in Chicago in March. The camp has produced NBA stars such as Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers and Pascal Siakam, who won the 2019 NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors.RACING NEWS NEWSLETTERGet updates direct to your inboxSUBSCRIBEBy registering, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy

Sotto helped the Ateneo Blue Eaglets to a UAAP championship in 2018. He was named MVP ahead of moving to the US. Now he has made the next step on the path toward his NBA dream.

Sotto, 18, will join five-star 2020 prospects Jalen Green—who is of Filipino origin—Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix on the new G League “Select Team.” All of those players will reportedly earn six-figure salaries.

Philippines basketball has been represented in the NBA by Filipino-Americans Jordan Clarkson, now of the Utah Jazz, and Raymond Townsend, who was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in 1978.