Five Filipino teenagers leave for a four-day trip to the US on Thursday as their prize for emerging the most outstanding players at the first Junior NBA camp held at the Ateneo gym here last year.

NBA Asia senior manager for markets Carlo Singson said the other day the first batch of Filipino Junior NBA All-Stars will join an exclusive Golden State Warriors camp for about 60 kids in the 11-17 age bracket at the Oracle Arena in Oakland during their stay. The highlight of the trip is watching the Warriors play the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.

The five players are 6-2 Nico Montelibano of La Salle Greenhills, 6-2 Aljon Mariano of San Beda, 6-1 Erlance Feliciano of San Beda, 6-2 Al Bugarin of Ateneo and 6-foot Rafael Banal of Ateneo. A sixth player, Kiefer Ravena, begged off from the trip because of summer classes. Ravena, however, was given a round-trip ticket to the US by the NBA as his prize.

Each player chose a traveling companion whose ticket was also provided by the NBA. Montelibano, Bugarin and Mariano are bringing their mothers while Banal is taking his brother and Feliciano, his father.

Banal’s father Joel is a former PBA player and currently, Alaska assistant coach.

Singson, who will accompany the All-Stars, said the Junior NBA camp falls under the “NBA Cares” program and was conceptualized to develop skills on the court and imbibe the STAR values of Sportsmanship, Teamwork, Attitude and Respect. He called the five Filipino All-Stars-all 15 years old – as ambassadors of goodwill, on and off the court.

With Ateneo coach and former Detroit Piston Norman Black as director, the Junior NBA camp was introduced in 16 Metro Manila private and public schools last April. The next month, the 16 schools participated in an NBA-sponsored tournament with Ateneo winning the championship. Last June, the Eagles champion team players and at least three All-Stars from the other 15 schools attended a Junior NBA camp for 56 kids with Frank Lopez, who conducts similar clinics for the Orlando Magic and Dallas Mavericks, flying in to assist Black in teaching pro-style drills at the Ateneo gym. The top six players were then chosen from the 56 to win round-trip tickets to the US.

The five All-Stars will be given a chance to meet their favorite players, said Singson. Montelibano said he’s looking forward to meet Chris Kaman with Bugarin choosing Al Harrington, Banal picking Monta Ellis, Feliciano selecting Stephen Jackson and Mariano naming Baron Davis.

Bugarin said if he’s asked by other campers in the US to describe what makes Philippine basketball unique, he’ll talk about how passionate Filipino fans are. “Filipinos love the game,” he said. “Just look at the fan support for Ginebra in the PBA and Ateneo and La Salle in the UAAP. I’ll tell them how passionate we are about basketball.”

This August, Singson said the country’s second Junior NBA program will reach out to 200 schools. Lopez will again plane in to assist Black with possibly an NBA player or legend. A camp for the coaches from the 200 schools will initially be held. Then the coaches will select 40 players to join four regional camps in Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The top 12 players from each regional camp will move on to converge in a three-day national camp where five to as many as 10 All-Stars will win round-trip tickets to the US to watch an NBA game.

Junior NBA programs were also launched in China and Japan last year. The Chinese All-Stars were sent to watch the recent All-Star Game in New Orleans while the Japanese All-Stars flew to witness a New Jersey Nets contest last January.

Singson said he hopes to introduce Golden State assistant coach Keith Smart, who once played as an import for San Miguel under Black in the PBA, to the Filipino All-Stars.