With Combine MVP award, Policarpio boosts stock

Much of the talk before the PBA Rookie Draft has centered mainly around the likes of Justine Baltazar, Sedrick Barefield and RJ Abarrientos.

But Jonnel Policarpio may have helped himself increase his draft stock with the way he performed in the league’s Draft Combine.

The lanky product of UAAP champion La Salle Green Archers played the starring role in his Team B-1 to a 61-44 win over Team A-3 in a mini-tournament to cap off the two-day mandatory event for draft applicants at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

“For me, I’m just ready for whoever team picks me,” said Policarpio in Filipino. “My confidence was at a hundred percent since the first day of the combine.”

Apart from carrying his team to the title, Policarpio was also named Most Valuable Player (MVP) while being named to the Mythical Five, awards which went with cash bonuses of P10,000 and P5,000, respectively.

Policarpio’s length and wide range of abilities to defend, shoot from the outside and attack the basket was on full display during the two-day combine witnessed by coaches who spent time to see their prospective picks in the flesh.

It remains to be seen if Policarpio was able to draw more attention before Sunday’s proceedings at Glorietta in Makati City.One team had already seen Policarpio up close in NLEX, which may need someone to add more frontline presence to its squad.

The 6-foot-5 forward from Pampanga is the youngest among the 69 hopefuls at 22 years old, coming off a UAAP campaign in which he helped the Green Archers capture the championship, and recently suited up for La Salle in the PBA D-League.

“For me, this experience of turning pro will be beneficial because I’m going to learn a lot,” he said.

While Policarpio was able to give himself a chance to get exposure, some weren’t able to do that during the combine as notable names had to skip for various reasons.