Jamie Malonzo and Larry Muyang were among the latest group of players to apply for the PBA Rookie Draft set March 14.
Malonzo and Muyang were joined by James Laput, Jun Munzo, David Murrell and Jay Javelosa as the list of applicants grew to 67 with five days left before the deadline.
After playing for Portland State in the US NCAA, Malonzo had a one-and-done stint with La Salle in 2019 before suiting up for Mighty Sports Philippines during last year’s title win in the Dubai Invitational.
Malonzo is being groomed as a potential first round pick in this year’s draft that is expected to be deep with the entry of blue-chippers from the collegiate, regional and 3x3 leagues.
Muyang was one of the main players of Letran’s Cinderella NCAA title run in 2019 while also playing for Petron-Letran in the D-League, San Juan in the MPBL and Pampanga in the NBL.
Laput also played one season for La Salle in 2019 before joining the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3, Munzo and Murrell were teammates at the University of the Philippines while Javelosa was a former national youth player and suited up for Navotas in the MPBL.
Terrafirma holds the No. 1 pick for the third straight year with NorthPort choosing second and NLEX holding the third and fourth selections.
Rain or Shine, Magnolia, Alaska, San Miguel Beer, Meralco, Phoenix Super LPG, TNT and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel round out the first round.