Evan Nelle doesn’t mind slipping down to the second round of the recent PBA Season 49 Draft after being projected as a first-round selection.
The 26-year-old guard understands that other teams have certain priorities and that is why he’s hardly sweating being picked 14th overall by NorthPort.
“I don’t really mind kasi everybody has their priorities, every team has what they need in what they choose,” he said.
“I think naman NorthPort, they drafted me, they might need me so I hope I can, you know, repay them.”
Nelle is undeniably one of the more decorated youngsters of this year’s class owing to the success he achieved during his collegiate career, and that’s why some fans and pundits alike believe that he’d be drafted in the first round.
He helped San Beda win the NCAA title in Seaosn 94 before leading La Salle to two D-League crowns and, of course, a gold medal in the UAAP Season 86.
Add to that the fact that he trained under former PBA MVP and current Sacramento Kings player development coach Jimmy Alapag in the States before the Draft as part of his preparations for the pros.
Yet his name wasn’t called during the first round, which caught some of those that watched the proceedings at the Glorietta Activity Center surprised.
But soon, the 5-foot-11 playmaker would find himself going up the stage after being drafted by the Batang Pier with the second pick of the second round.
It’s all that matters for Nelle, who’s set to join one of the league’s youngest teams that also took Dave Ildefonso at no. 5 overall in Sunday’s draft.
“Honestly, I don’t mind if it’s the first round, second round, or third round. Basta saang team na nagtitiwala sa akin, that’s the only thing I look at,” he said.
Now, he’s out to repay the trust by the NorthPort coaches led by Bonnie Tan, the same man that beat him and the Red Lions in the NCAA Season 95 Finals as the Letran Knights went on to bag home the championship.
“Very ironic kasi my last game in the NCAA, he made me cry. Now, he’s making me cry again because he drafted me. It’s a big honor,” Nelle said.
