PBA Draft Focus: Mariano banking on versatility in PBA bid
University of Santo Tomas forward Aljon Mariano believes his versatility is what separates him from other PBA aspirants.
Mariano is considered as one of the top prospects in the 2015 Gatorade PBA Rookie Draft on Sunday. A possible first round choice like his fellow collegiate stars part of the relatively deep pool.
“I think my advantage will be my versatility. I can play multiple positions and I can guard big players and I can stay in step with small players,” said the 6-foot-3 Mariano.
The 23-year-old has worked out with several teams and felt he made quite an impression with coaches at Star and Ginebra.
“Based on the teams that I worked out for, I think that I would best fit in with Star and Ginebra because I did pretty good during my workouts with those two teams and from what I see, their systems would require having versatile players.”
Mariano would also love to reunite with Pido Jarencio, his former coach at University of Santo Tomas and current head coach of Globalport.
“Of course, I would want to play for him because coach opened a lot of opportunities for me in college. We’ve also shared a lot and we’ve also known each other for a long time now,” said Mariano, who blossomed as a college star under Jarencio in the 75th Season of the UAAP.
However, the Batang Pier have traded their rights to their only pick in the first two rounds as part of the Jervy Cruz deal with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and chances are, Mariano will be gone by the time Globalport gets to be on board again.
Mariano, who had a disappointing exit in his final year in the UAAP after a forgetful Finals performance the season before, is not expecting anything heading into the Draft but he also couldn’t hide his excitement.
“Some of my friends who are in the PBA told me now to think about when I’m going to get picked so that I wouldn’t get disappointed. But the Draft is just days away from now and I’m really excited.”
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