Kai Sotto in a Gilas Uniform: Additional Youth and Height

On Tuesday's episode of Jump Thru Hoops, Jinno Rufino said, "In a perfect world, you would put Kai (Sotto),"

While we are nowhere near a perfect world, we can almost put Kai Sotto in a Gilas Pilipinas uniform in time for the next window of the 2021 International Basketball Federation (FIBA)  Asia Cup qualifiers in which one of the bubble windows will be played in Clark on February 2021 as the 18-year old basketball prodigy revealed in a virtual press conference, "To be honest there’s a higher probability that I would play in this upcoming window but it also depends on the schedule because they said we might have the season next year,"

"It depends on the schedule,"

That was said last December 10.

On Thursday, he announced in another virtual press conference, "I will be joining the national team,"

While there's no clarity yet on how things will work out as Kai Sotto is also playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA) G-League, the former Ateneo Blue Eaglet's announcement added another dimension to the current core of the national team who played with a core loaded with former and current collegiate stars and dominated the back-to-back games against Thailand in the second window of the Asia Cup qualifiers in Bahrain. Kai Sotto will bring in two things with him if he goes on to make his debut with the senior team of Gilas Pilipinas: a rare combination of height and youth.

Kai Sotto stands at seven-foot-two which makes him the tallest Filipino in the potential line-up. Incoming naturalized player, Angelo Kouame only stands at six-foot-10. The height advantage of Sotto will help Gilas especially against Korea who the Filipinos will face twice in February. Youth is also one thing that will help Gilas Pilipinas with Kai on board as he will be able to use his youth against older big men.

More importantly, he is a former Ateneo high standout like his former teammate, Dave Ildefonso, and with the current Gilas core loaded with current and former Ateneo players, adding Kai Sotto into the mix is an easy decision. 

While Kai is yet to have experience in the seniors' division of international competition, his experience under G-League Ignite Coach Brain Shaw will be a big plus not just for Sotto but also for Gilas Pilipinas.  

Photo is from Forbes