By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Filipino-American guard Kihei Clark will still have a chance to fulfill his NBA dream after going undrafted during the 2023 NBA Rookie Draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York last week.

The 5-foot-10 point guard was quickly picked up by the Utah Jazz for their 2023 NBA Summer League team, according to a report by Salt Lake City-based sports writer Tony Jones of The Athletic.

Prior to the NBA Draft last Friday, June 23, the 23-year-old Clark had workouts with some NBA teams, namely, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards, and Charlotte Hornets.

Clark, who traced his roots from Ilocos, held the distinction of being the second Filipino-American player to win a US NCAA championship since UCLA Bruins’ Raymond Townsend in 1975.

The Fil-Am Clark and the University of Virginia Cavaliers captured the US NCAA Division 1 crown in 2019 when they scored an 85-77 overtime victory against Texas Tech Red Raiders in the finals.

However, Clark’s collegiate career ended on a sour note early this year as he committed a costly turnover that caused the no. 4 seed Cavaliers’ 68-67 loss to no. 13 Furman Paladins.

Clark will be the second Filipino cager to play in the upcoming Summer League aside from 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto, who got an invite to join the Orlando Magic in the same tournament.

According to Sotto’s agent, Tony Ronzone, several teams have shown interest in having Sotto in the NBA Summer League, but they chose to join the Magic as he would be more fit there./ASC, WDJ