Christian Standhardinger, the Fil-German who represented Gilas Pilipinas, in two international tournaments last month, is joining the PBA Draft, the league confirmed yesterday.
The PBA said in a press release that the 6-foot-8 Standhardinger beat Monday’s deadline for Fil-foreign players who wished to apply for the said proceeding set Oct. 27 at Robinsons Ermita.
Standhardinger is coming off national team stints in the FIBA Asia Cup in Beirut, Lebanon and the Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian Games, serving as naturalized player in both tournaments.
The 28-year-old recently signed with the Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions ahead of its title defense in the next ASEAN Basketball League season, and it is unknown at the moment if Standhardinger will remain committed to playing in the regional league before joining the PBA.
The ABL is set to start around November and is expected to end by summer of next year. The next PBA season starts December.
He earned rave reviews for his hustle and physical presence in Gilas’ seventh place finish in the FIBA Asia and in winning the SEA Games gold in the Malaysian capital.
Other Fil-foreigners who applied for the draft are former La Salle standouts Jason Perkins and Julian Sargent, San Beda star Davon Potts, Robbie Herndon, Zach Nichols, Andreas Cahilig and Felix Apreku, the PBA also revealed.