MANILA, Philippines – A total of 44 players have declared for the 2017 PBA Rookie Draft, the league announced on Thursday evening.

Filipino-German forward Christian Standhardinger, who earned plaudits with his stints for Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA Asia Cup and the Southeast Asian Games, banner the rookie hopefuls and is projected to be the top selection.

Also joining the draft are homegrown superstars Kiefer Ravena and Jeron Teng, who both made their intent to join the pool known earlier this week.

Two standouts from the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas team that competed in the 2017 FIBA Asia Champions Cup in Chenzhou, China – Jett Manuel of University of the Philippines and Raymar Jose of Far Eastern University – have also made themselves available.

De La Salle University's Jason Perkins and San Beda College's Davon Potts are two of the most high-profile Filipino-American players who have joined the draft.

Felix Apreku of Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Julian Sargent of La Salle, Andreas Philip Cahilig of the Cignal team in the PBA D-League, Robert Herndon of Wangs and Zachary Nicholls of Arellano University are the other Fil-foreign hopefuls.

• READ: Gilas Pilipinas drops three places in latest FIBA World rankings

The rest of the draft hopefuls are as follows:

1. Jian Lloyd Abrigo
2. Monbert Arong
3. Wilson Baltazar
4. Arvie Bringas
5. Jebb Bulawan
6. Elmer Cabahug
7. Gwynne Capacio
8. John Karlo Casino
9. Gab Dagangon
10. Christian de Chavez
11. Jeremiah dela Pena
12. Ebrahim Enguio
13. Lervin Flores
14. Joseph Gabayni
15. JonJon Gabriel
16. Christian Geronimo
17. Jayson Grimaldo
18. John Ervin Grospe
19. Michael Vincent Juico
20. Christian Moralde
21. Joseph Nalos
22. Rey Nambatac
23. Kyle Neypes
24. Sidney Onwubere
25. Jerome Ortega
26. Renz Palma
27. Dan Sara
28. Jom Sollano
29. John Rey Sumido
30. Mac Tallo
31. Thomas Torres

KIA Picanto will make the first pick in the draft, scheduled for October 29 at the Robinson's Place Manila.

But first, the rookie hopefuls must first go through the draft combine, after which the PBA Commissioner's Office will come up with the final draft pool.

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