The decorated point guard made sure to honor his two collegiate teams during the PBA Season 49 Rookie Draft.
Evan Nelle is one of very few Filipino basketball players to have won championships in both the UAAP and NCAA. The wiry point guard won an NCAA title with the San Beda Red Lions in 2018 and a UAAP crown with the DLSU Green Archers in 2023.
So when Nelle attended Sunday’s PBA Season 49 Draft, he made sure to honor these two teams by wearing pins of a lion and an archer on his coat.
“I chose this because I want to give back to Beda and La Salle,” Nelle told a group of reporters after the NorthPort Batang Pier selected him with the second pick of the second round and 14th overall in the draft. “Without them, I wouldn’t be anywhere. They’re the ones that gave me the chance to be a basketball player. They helped me pursue my dreams.”
Nelle played two seasons with the Red Lions before transferring to DLSU. Ironically, he will now be playing for the coach who beat him in his very last NCAA game.
“Very ironic because my last game in NCAA, he made me cry,” Nelle said of NorthPort coach Bonnie Tan, who was calling the shots for the Letran Knights in 2019 when they defeated the Red Lions in the finals. “Now he’s making me cry again because he drafted me. It’s a big honor. Thank you for your trust, Coach Bonnie and the coaching staff. I hope I can repay you guys.”
Nelle will be joining a Batang Pier team that is looking to improve on its Season 48 performance behind scoring machine Arvin Tolentino, versatile guard Joshua Munzon and sophomore forwards Will Navarro and Zav Lucero. While he earned a reputation as a big-time scorer in college, Nelle says he’s content to take a backseat to his veteran teammates.
“I’m a rookie,” he said. “I know NorthPort has Arvin Tolentino, they have Joshua Munzon. Of course, you have to climb the ranks before you get to that last endgame part but you can’t say no. If they give it to me, if they trust me enough, I hope I can repay them. I hope I don’t choke. I can’t say I’m super confident but I know what I worked for, I’m confident in my hard work and I think I can achieve what I want.”
Nelle said he didn’t mind sliding down into the second round even though he was projected to be picked in the first.
“Honestly, I don’t mind if it’s first round, second round, third round. As long as it’s a team that trusts me. That’s the only thing I look at. I don’t really mind because everybody has their priorities.”
Before the draft, Nelle spent time in California training with another PBA great, current Sacramento Kings assistant coach Jimmy Alapag.
“I can use my training, what I learned in the States just to influence my teammates. I know I work hard and I really hope that mahawa sila sa hard work ko. That’s what Coach Jimmy taught me, hard work takes you places.”
Aside from Nelle, several other former Green Archers were selected, including top overall pick Justine Baltazar, sixth pick Jonnel Policarpio, and tenth pick Mark Nonoy. Nelle said he is looking forward to facing his ex-teammates.
“A lot of us were picked here in the first two rounds,” he said. “I’m honestly proud of them but they know how competitive I am. Every time I faced them, be it at practice or whatever, I want to beat them so it’s going to be the same here in the PBA. I really hope every time I face them I beat them.”
Banner Image from PBA Media Bureau.
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