Top rookie prospect Holt set to skip PBA Draft Combine

Top rookie prospect Stephen Holt, a Filipino-American guard is expected to skip the 2023 PBA Rookie Draft Combine scheduled this coming Tuesday and Wednesday, September 12-13 at the Gatorade Hoops Center in Mandaluyong.

Stephen Holt FIBA PHOTO

Player agent Marvin Espiritu, who represents the 31-year-old Holt, said the rookie applicant is still in Portland to attend to his wife, who recently gave birth to their first baby.

“We wrote a letter to the PBA office of the commissioner to inform them that Stephen won't be able to join the Draft Combine because his wife just gave birth recently,” Espiritu told the Manila Times on Monday, September 11.

“He just has to make sure his wife and their baby are already in good condition before he flies in (to Manila),” he added.

PBA technical operations staff Jun Bengwa confirmed receipt of the letter, noting that what's important is the reason for skipping the mandatory Draft Combine “should be valid.”

“We usually remove applicants from the list if they didn't inform us of their reason for their absence,” Bengwa said.

A total of 128 players applied for the PBA Rookie Draft set this coming Sunday, September 17 at the Market! Market! in Taguig.

Terrafirma owns the top pick for this year's Rookie Draft, followed by Blackwater. Rain or Shine owns the third and fourth picks, respectively, followed by NorthPort, Phoenix, NLEX and Meralco.

Converge gets its chance to dip into the rookie pool with its ninth and 10th picks, followed by NorthPort and Terrafirma.

Holt, listed at 6-4, played college basketball at Saint Mary's from 2010-2014, before eventually playing for the Canton Charge in the NBA G League during the 2014-15 season, averaging 10.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 49 games.

He eventually took his act overseas where he played in Australia, Spain, won a championship in the Czech Republic pro league, saw action in Kazakhstan, Poland, Slovenia, before playing for CSM Oradea in Romania where he averaged 7.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 36 games.