Chris Newsome, a 6-foot-2 American guard with Filipino roots, and Aguilar, who was recently dropped from the Smart Gilas team, were among the invited candidates for the PH five to be coached by Norman Black.

Over 30 varsity stars also attended a tryout last Saturday at the Far Eastern University gym as Black started the process of choosing his squad with emphasis on “size, speed and perimeter shooting.”

Newsome plays for the New Mexico Highlands University in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference of the US NCAA Division II.

The 6-9 Aguilar, still recovering from an injury on his posterior cruciate ligament, said he expects to be back in shape in three months.

Numerous injuries hounded the stint of Aguilar with Smart Gilas, which finally decided to leave him behind when it competed in the Dubai International Tour last week.

“As much as possible I want to get experience from international tournaments,” said the lanky Aguilar, who was a former Western Kentucky University reserve in the US NCAA Division I team.
“Things have been up and down for me and sometimes I feel disappointed. But I’ll be glad to play in the SEA Games. Right now, my playing rights are still with [PBA team] Talk ‘N Text.”

Newsome caught the eye of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas in previous batches of the national youth team.

“He’s also set to enroll in Ateneo this year,” Black said of Newsome, who averages 9.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.8 steals with New Mexico.

Only 12 players from the national pool will make it to the final lineup of the team aiming to defend the title it won in the 2007 edition in Thailand. The basketball tournament wasn’t held in the 2009 SEA Games in Laos.

Smart Gilas captain Chris Tiu recently said he is interested to lead the SEA Games team.

Jasmine Payo, Phil. Daily Inquirer