Days after the Philippine Basketball Association tweaked its eligibility rules, Filipino-American Stephen Holt immediately expressed his intention to join the Rookie Draft set on 17 September.

Holt's agent Marvin Espiritu made the confirmation to DAILY TRIBUNE saying that the 31-year-old shooting guard had already submitted his application last Thursday.

"I submitted it last Thursday," Espiritu, the son of well-known basketball agent Danny Espiritu, said.

Holt looms to be the top overall pick in the coming draft.

A well-traveled player, the 6-foot-4 guard from St. Mary's College has been a consistent double-digit producer, averaging 10.8 points per game while leading the West Coast Conference in steals with 1.8 per game in his first two seasons.

Holt also played in the National Basketball Association G League with the Canton Charge, an affiliated squad of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and saw action in countries like Australia, Spain, Czech Republic, Poland, Kazakhstan, Slovenia and Romania.

His inclusion in the coming Rookie Draft will certainly jack up the quality of talent, making it one of the deepest in recent history.

Aside from Holt, other prospects who are certainly going to catch the fancy of the 12 teams in the early round are Keith Datu, Ricci Rivero, Brent Paraiso, Lawrence Domingo, Raffy Verano, Luis Villegas and Sherwin Concepcion.

The number of aspirants is expected to further increase in the coming days.

Recently, Alvin Torno has decided to partner with the elder Espiritu and brought along his players who are also joining the draft like Itchie Altamirano, Irven Palencia, Ammar Casari, Lean Martel and King Destacamento.