Sedrick Barefield gets a taste of professional action as he joins Bay Area for the upcoming East Asia Super League Champions Week from 1 to 5 March in Okinawa, Japan.
The Dragons announced the development in social media, saying that the Filipino-American playmaker will serve as their Asian import as they seek to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the finals of the Commissioner's Cup of the Philippine Basketball Association last month.
The 6-foot-2 Barefield was supposed to play for the P. League champion Taipei Fubon but had a change of heart and joined the Dragons instead.
With the Dragons, he will join a powerhouse crew bannered by former National Basketball Association campaigners Myles Powell and Andrew Nicholson as well as Kobey Lam and Chinese giant Liu Chuanxing.
The Dragons are bracketed in Group B together with Japan B. League powerhouse Utsunomiya Brex, Korean club Seoul SK Knights and Filipino side TNT Tropang Giga.
Strong Group head coach Charles Tiu told Daily Tribune that he recommended Barefield to Dragons coach Brian Goorjian after seeing how he performed in the recent 32nd Dubai International Basketball Championship.
"I actually was the one who introduced him to Coach Brian. We've known for a while that he will be playing there after his stint in Dubai," Tiu said in a text message.
"I certainly hope that he would fit into what Coach Brian is doing. I hope he can end up playing there long term because he will learn so much from Coach Brian and be a better player."
Tiu added that Barefield's exposure in the Dubai tourney made his recruitment a lot easier.
"I think the Dubai experience was good for him because, first, he hasn't played in a while so it's good to get the rust out of his game," said Tiu, who led College of Saint Benilde to the finals of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 98.
"Second, I think it's an eye-opener on how good the other players are also around the region and that he is going to have to work for things and it will not be easy."
"I think he will help them scoring-wise. He's a talented offensive player for sure. Sedrick has the potential to be an explosive scorer, and he can shoot the lights out."