By REYNALD MAGALLON
Juan Gomez de Liano easily stood out among the PBA hopefuls as other top prospects skipped the opening day activities of the 2025 Draft Combine at the Ynares Sports Center in Pasig City on Thursday, Sept. 4.
De Liano, widely considered as the best available talent in this year’s top heavy draft, led the attendees that also included the likes of Dalph Panopio, Geo Chiu, and Will Gozum.
Another top talent in this year’s draft Jason Brickman skipped the combine due to a prior commitment.
He is also likely to miss the proceedings on Sunday, Sept. 7 at the Mall of Asia Music Hall as he is expected to return to the country the day after.
The hopefuls participated in a series of athletics tests in the morning session before playing on five-on-five scrimmages in the afternoon where PBA coaches and team officials were curious spectators on the sidelines.
“It’s been good. It’s been a good experience so far. A couple of tests and I’m definitely looking forward to tomorrow and playing a couple of games, so it’s been good so far,” said De Liano.
On top of the obvious talent, De Liano is already boasting a wealth of experience at just 25-years-old, having spent the last five years of his career playing overseas.
“I have pretty much just experienced… been around the world. Whichever team gets me, (I’ll give) a lot of energy and leadership as well,” he added.
Chiu, the tallest player in the draft at 6-foot-10, was also in attendance although he did not participate in the activities as he was feeling under the weather.
Still, with just his sheer size and potential, it could land him high in the draft even without seeing him on the court.
But the 24-year-old center isn’t putting much pressure on himself ahead of the draft.
“No naman (any expectations), ako naman ineenjoy ko lang kumbaga whoever picks us naman, we’ll be happy to play for that team. Siguro maaasahan naman nila na we’ll be committed to it,” said Chiu.
“No preference naman for whoever, but whoever wants to draft me, they can be sure that we’ll be committed to playing for that team,” he added.
