It’s easy to understand why National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) founder Eric Altamirano is all smiles these past few days.

Speaking during the Vivo 3x3 Grand Finals at the Mall of Asia last Friday, Altamirano expressed delight over the role the NBTC played in the 17-year-old Alas’s progress.

Alas flew to Perth, Australia last Saturday to start his month-long camp with National Basketball League 1 West squad Warwick Senators.

From Australia, Alas will head to the United States to see action for Layton Christian Academy in Utah.

“That’s really the objective of the program of the NBTC: To be able to identify talents and hopefully help them achieve their dreams whether that be in collegiate level, professional level, like PBA (Philippine Basketball Association, Japan B-League, KBL (Korean Basketball League), and also NBA (National Basketball Association),” Altamirano said.

“We haven’t talked after the NBTC but I am aware of his dreams of making it abroad. I talked with his dad, Coach Louie, and he did mention that his son wanted to play in the United States.”

Alas made the most of his recent NBTC stint.

For one, he was named the No. 1 prospect in 2025 and played in the All-Star Game where he scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds in Team Hustle’s 94-95 loss to Team Heart led by Mark Esperanza of Adamson University.

The De La Salle Santiago Zobel guard also led Phenom Blue Fire to the NBTC National Finals before bowing to the Byron Scott-mentored Fil-Am Nation Select, 59-64.

Alas led Phenom with 20 points in the championship round, earning the praise of Scott, a 2008 NBA Coach of the Year.

“He has very good tempo with his movement, he understands how to use his body to shoot the ball, he’s great at the free throw line, and like I said, he has a very good basketball IQ. He’s probably the one that impressed me the most,” Scott said.

Altamirano even gave Alas some pointers as he enters another stage in his buildup for bigger things.