Japeth to apply for draft
SPORTING CHANCE By Joaquin M. Henson
Updated July 16, 2009
12:00 AM
Former Ateneo and Western Kentucky center Japeth Aguilar is filing an application to join the PBA draft on Aug. 2 and that’s final.
Aguilar was supposed to decide whether or not to turn pro after coming home from the Jones Cup in Taipei but a highly placed source revealed the other day he had already made up his mind.
With the issue settled, there’s no doubt Aguilar will be the PBA’s first overall draft this year, following in the footsteps of Gabe Norwood (200

, Joe DeVance (2007), Kelly Williams (2006), Jay Washington (2005), Rich Alvarez (2004), Mike Cortez (2003) and Yancy de Ocampo (2002).
Burger King coach Yeng Guiao has openly admitted his intention of drafting Aguilar with the first overall pick. That would leave Rico Maierhofer as the logical choice for No. 2.
But in a recent twist, a rumor has floated that Talk ‘N’ Text is dead set to enlist Aguilar. To make it happen, the Tropang Texters must acquire Burger King’s drafting rights. Since there are common shareholders between the two franchises, any deal involving Talk ‘N’ Text and Burger King must pass through the Board, meaning it will require consent of the other member teams.
The scuttlebutt is Talk ‘N’ Text hopes to sign up Aguilar both for its PBA team and the Smart-Gilas developmental squad coached by Serbian Rajko Toroman. A PBA approval will be necessary for a regular PBA cager to play for a non-PBA team but since the “outside” team is the developmental squad, it should be no problem to allow Aguilar the best of both worlds.