by Jonas Terrado
Kai Sotto arrived Friday from the United States to join Gilas Pilipinas Youth’s preparation for the FIBA U-19 World Cup in Heraklion, Greece.
The 7-foot-2 teen prodigy spent the last three months training in Atlanta to hone his skills amid offers to play professional ball in Europe.
He’s hoping to put the new skills gained into good use for the World Cup which starts June 29.
Gilas Youth, coached by Sandy Arespacochaga, is in Group C alongside Argentina, Greece and Russia. The top two teams advance to the round-of-16.
American-based AJ Edu arrived recently to reinforce the team’s buildup for the competition.
Sotto was joined by his entire family led by his father Ervin with their plane tickets were shouldered by main backer Chooks-to-Go.
Company president Ronald Mascarinas had been supporting Sotto prior to his departure last April.
The US trip was the first step in Sotto’s dream to fulfill his NBA dream in the immediate future.
A stint in Europe could be the best way for the 17-year-old to achieve that goal.
