One of Kai Sotto’s closest friends back when he was with G League Ignite was Princepal Singh.
The two behemoths would always talk about one day facing each other in the biggest of stages.
“I always tell him, ‘Hey Prince, do your best and represent your country, because that’s like, a lot of people’s dreams,’” said Sotto back in February.
Now they have a chance to face each other as Gilas Pilipinas and India were pooled together in Group A of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
And a lot of things have changed since then for the 19-year-old Sotto and 20-year-old Singh.
Sotto and Ignite ended up going their separate ways last February, while Singh remained with the team.
The 6-foot-10 Singh ended up playing just four games during the G League bubble, norming 2.3 points and 1.0 rebounds. He did not enter the 2021 NBA Draft.
Singh also played four games for India’s national team, averaging 4.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per contest.
Photo from FIBA.basketball
For his part, Sotto decided on going down south, signing with the Adelaide 36ers for the upcoming NBL-Australia season.
The 7-foot-2 Sotto also played for Gilas in the Asia Cup Qualifiers’ Clark window and the Olympic Qualifying Tournament-Belgrade.
And if ever the two meet once again, Sotto warned his friend to be ready.
“I always tell him that they better get ready because I’m really looking forward to playing against them in the future in the men’s national team,” said Sotto.
“Especially Prince.”
