New stars emerge

The first day of the 2019 Gatorade Draft Combine offered a lot of surprises.

While all eyes are on top pick prospect Isaac Go, a good number of unheralded aspirants surprisingly did well in the anthropometry phase of the two-day camp held at the Gatorade Hoops Center in Mandaluyong.

Forward Yankie Haruna of College of Saint Benilde topped the vertical leap test with a leap 36 inches, highest among the 71 PBA aspirants who showed up yesterday.

Hubert Cani of Far Eastern University, meanwhile, emerged victorious in the lane agility test with a speed of 11.28 seconds.

De La Salle University guard Kib Montalbo also made his mark, completing the 3/4 court sprint with the best time of 3.44 seconds.

Little known Maurice Shaw and Prince Rivero went for 27 reps in the bench press to share the honor.

The camp wraps up on Friday with the aspirants divided into two group of four teams and will play 5-on-5 mini tournament to test their court skills. There will also be a three-point shooting with the participants to be selected by the camp’s sponsor, Gatorade.

The 2019 Rookie Draft is set on Sunday, 8 December, at the Robinson’s Place in Ermita.