RD 2 PICK 22 – CHRISTIAN FAJARITO
RD 3 PICK 34 – JJ ESPANOLA
I think all Letran players playing in the NCAA Season 97 Finals landed in good situations. Now yes, Fajarito barely gets playing time for the Knights but this is only because the team is overloaded with talent. Fajarito can ball given the situation and chances are, Meralco could use a project just in case Reynel Hugnatan decides to finally hang up his jersey.
Going to the PBA with that situation is hard... but extremely doable. Allein Maliksi never had a good UAAP career because he played the same position as Dylan Ababou, but look at him now. Another player on this roster with similar UAAP background is Nonoy Baclao – who played support for Rabeh Al-Hussaini.
Justin Chua had to contend with the awesomeness of Greg Slaughter and like Maliksi, had to have a breakout D-League stint with Blackwater to make scouts check out his game. And how about Jason Perkins who was tearing it up on the D-League only to take a backseat because Ben Mbala is just that big of a beast?
The fact of the matter is that the PBA is a different animal and if given the opportunity, Fajarito can be a draft steal.
Also, Meralco has thrived in getting the best second-round talents with their acquisitions of Bong Quinto and Aaron Black.
Meralco also got JJ Espanola in the third round. The Bolts have played a couple of their third-round picks like Anjo Caram, Joseph Sedurifa, and most recently, Mike Canete but the rest of their picks either land on rookie free agency or in the MPBL.