MERALCO INKS DAVIS AS COMM’S CUP IMPORTS CAST ALMOST COMPLETE
Former San Diego State top rebounder and defender Josh Davis, the last cut in the current San Antonio Spurs roster in the NBA, will be Meralco’s reinforcement in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup that unwraps Jan. 27 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Meralco head coach Norman Black personally scouted Davis with the Austin Toros in the recently held NBA D-League Showcase Cup at Santa Cruz, California.
Coming out of the SDSU campus, Davis was nicknamed “Kawhi 2.0” for his rebounding skills and his profound likeness to 2014 NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard.
Davis averaged 10.1 rebounds and 7.7 points in one year at SDSU after earlier stints with North Carolina State then with Tulane.
After his senior year at San Diego State, he joined Charlotte in the NBA Summer League where he put in 8.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. He finished three of seven games with double-double numbers.
Davis has been tapped in at Meralco primarily because of his great ability to get the rebounds.
His signing with the Bolts also has essentially completed the list of imports strutting their stuffs in the mid-season PBA tourney except that of San Miguel Beer which is still awaiting the latest from Arinze Onuaku.
However the Beermen may need to find a replacement for Onuaku who got a call from the NBA following a good showing in the NBA D-League Showcase Cup.
Onuaku, though, isn’t completely turning his back on San Miguel with his agent saying they will just explore on the NBA possibilities first.
Recently signed were CJ Leslie for Globalport and Rick Jackson for Rain or Shine.
Over at Purefoods, three-year NBA veteran Daniel Orton committed to play with the Hotshots upon the completion of his stint with the Sichuan team in the Chinese Basketball Association.
Others set to play in the Commissioner’s Cup are DJ Covington for Alaska Milk, Solomon Alabi for Barako Bull, Michael Dunigan for Ginebra, Chris Charles for Blackwater, Peter John Ramos for Kia, Al Thornton for NLEX and Richard Howell for Talk n Text.
Already measured at the PBA Commissioner’s Office were Jackson at 6-8 1/16, Ramos at 7-2 ¾, Alabi at 7-0 ½ and Howell at 6-6 15/16.
A teammate of Onuaku at Syracuse, Jackson, 25, won Big East second team citations in 2011 but went undrafted in the NBA because of the NBA lockout.
He played for Team USA in the under-18 Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Germany in 2006 and led the team with 17.3 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks.
Leslie, 23, was an All-ACC Second Team member in 2012 and made the NBA D-League All-Rookie Third Team with the Idaho Stampede last year.
He joined the D-League after getting only a partially guaranteed contract with the New York Knicks and later waived in 2013.
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
