Alas banners Batang Gilas to SEABA U16 tourney

Second generation player Kieffer Alas leads the 12-man roster of the Gilas Pilipinas young men's team, which will compete in the coming Southeast Asia Basketball Association (SEABA) Under-16 Championship to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia from 16 to 19 July.

The youngest son of multi-titled champion coach Louie Alas will banner the team that also has shooting guard CJ Amos, younger brother of Gilas Pilipinas player and incoming Ateneo freshman Mason Amos, guard Irus Chua from Brent, 6-foot-3 forward Bon Daja of Davao, Joaquin Ludovice of University of Santo Tomas, guard Gian Gomez and Bryan Hachuela of La Salle Greenhills, 6-foot-5 New Jersey-based Filipino center Edwyn Morales, Fil-American Elijah Wiliams, 6-foot-5 cent5er Paul Diao from Sacramento, Kurt Velasquez of UST and 6-foot-2 forward Ziv Espinas of Ateneo.

"I'm super excited," wrote Alas via Messenger to Daily Tribune. "Before, I represented the Elite Ph, but this is the first time to represent the national team in an international competition."

Alas was invited in the NBA Asia Development Camp in Singapore a few months ago and the Basketball Without Borders Asia in Abu Dhabi.

Placed on the reserve list are 5-foot-10 guard Champ Arejola, son of current Philippine Basketball Association board governor Erick Arejola of NorthPort, and 6-foot-3 Daniel Sta. Maria of La Salle Zobel.

Earlier, reports about Diao, a highly-touted young big man, not making the final roster cropped up after he suffered a strained hip adductors, but it seems that he is willing to play play in pain and ready to represent the Philippines for the first time.

Gilas Pilipinas will play teams from Thailand, Malaysia and host squad Indonesia in an event which serves as a qualifying tournament for the FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship.