Kai ready for war

MANILA, Philippines — Kai Sotto’s dream of playing for Gilas at the men’s level will soon come true as he looks forward to suiting up for the Philippines at the FIBA Asia Cup third qualifying window in Clark on June 16-20 and the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade on June 30-July 4.

Sotto is still completing the mandatory IATF quarantine after arriving from the US last May 31. His parents, sister and brother flew in later and are now on their fourth day of quarantine here. Yesterday, Sotto tested negative after 10 days of hotel quarantine and said he can’t wait to get back on the court.

Sotto, 19, was slated to train for three months in Miami up to July preparatory to moving to Australia in August to start preseason training with the Adelaide 36ers in the National Basketball League. But he rearranged his schedule as soon as SBP confirmed the staging of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers. While in Miami, Sotto worked feverishly with elite basketball trainer Stanley Remy and strength/conditioning coach Felix Flores to get ready for war. Now, he’s armed, locked and loaded. Sotto’s NBA agent Joel Bell said he’s in the best shape of his career, stronger than ever and excited to prove himself as the future of Philippine basketball.

Sotto has bulked up to 232 pounds with 6.9 percent body fat and Flores said correcting his posture has set his height to 7-4. A dedicated chef made sure Sotto had the nutrition to back up his long hours of workouts and a 5,000-calorie daily intake became a routine. Sotto logged games with NBA players and elite athletes to put himself at a level where he can compete with grizzled veterans on the FIBA platform and the NBL. A player whom he went up against in Miami was Lester Prosper who’ll see action for Indonesia in Clark. Sotto said he locked horns with Prosper twice or thrice a week at the Miami camp and “I’m excited for the experience of playing him in an actual game.” The Philippines and Indonesia face off on June 18.

“I’m ready, I’m excited and I can’t wait,” said Sotto. “It’s a dream come true, almost a no brainer when I have the opportunity to play for the Philippines because I’ve been waiting for this moment and now I have a chance to play. I’m very excited to be with my teammates and coaches, play some games, try to win and learn a lot of things.” Bell said what’s admirable about Sotto is his dedication to the country. “As a player, he’s just a different guy he was two months ago,” he said. “That’s a credit not only to Stanley and Felix but also to Kai, who’s put in the work. In the gym, Kai gets there early, leaves late, doing what we call the 11th rep. A lot of times you tell guys to do 10 reps but with Kai, he’ll do 10 and that 11, too. He’ll push it. I’ve been an agent for 33 years, I’ve repped a huge amount of players in the NBA and guys in the Argentina, Greek, German, Nigeria Olympic teams, all kinds, but I’ll tell you I’ve never seen a player with more love for his national team like Kai. I haven’t seen anybody make these sacrifices in my career as an agent.”