Glutagence Glow Boosters take top pick in WNBL Draft

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--Newcomer squad Glutagence Glow Boosters will headline the first ever WNBL Draft as they will go first in the draft proceedings following the draft lottery on Sunday night.

Aside from the first overall pick, Glutagence will also go first in the second and the third rounds.

According to NBL executive vice president Rhose Montreal, the Glow Boosters got the right to select first as they had the fewest "protected" players, that is, the veterans from the league's inaugural staging in 2019 that were directly recruited to the squad, at three.

The Quezon Lady Spartan, another debuting team, will begin shoring their own roster in the third round, picking next to the Glow Boosters.

The Lady Spartan, however, will pick first in the fourth round to be followed by another rookie club, the Pacific Water Queens, and the Glow Boosters.

Quezon was also drawn as the first pick for the fifth round with Pacific Water choosing second, Paranaque, one of only two teams from Season 1 returning for the sophomore year, taking third, and Glutagence picking fourth.

The Lady Aces, though, got the first pick for Round 6 with the Glow Boosters, the Queens, and the Lady Spartan choosing next in order.

Paranaque also took the first pick in the seventh round followed by Quezon, Pacific Water, and Glutagence.

The Queens will choose first in the eighth round to be followed by the Lady Spartan, the Glow Boosters, and the Aces.

The draft proper, scheduled for Saturday night, will run for 12 rounds.

Quezon protected five players, while Pacific Water took in six players and Paranaque listed the most in its protect list with seven.

Navy, the other holdover from the 2019 staging, has decided to bring in a full roster consisting of enlisted soldiers for the upcoming season.

Meanwhile, Montreal bared that two more teams will be joining this year.

However, she added that the punctuality of submitting the necessary documents would matter on which club gets to select earlier in a certain draft round.

"Whoever comes first to give us the confirmation will take the fifth slot," Montreal said.

The two incoming clubs are expected to finalize their intent of joining this week.

On which round they will enter will depend on who they will take from the protect list.

The six teams that will take part in the draft proper will get a chance to build their roster from 115 lady ballers who took part in the draft combine last December.

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