There’s a 6-5, 200-pound Fil-Am point guard flying in to play for Pampanga in the inaugural season of Liga Pilipinas and the word is Jared Bautista Dillinger could be a high pick in the coming PBA draft.
Talk ’N’ Text coach Chot Reyes discovered Dillinger during a US scouting trip and said yesterday if he’s available in the PBA draft, the Phone Pals will choose the 24-year-old phenom who was born in Rapid City, South Dakota, to a Filipina mother Gemma Bautista and an American father James Dillinger of Colorado.
Liga Pilipinas president Noli Eala called Dillinger the fledgling league’s potential “marquee player” who will suit up for coach Aric del Rosario’s Smart-sponsored Pampanga squad.
Dillinger will miss Liga’s four-day preseason tournament for Northern teams starting Sunday in Taguig. He is expected to arrive either June 2 or 3, according to Reyes, in time for Liga’s season opening on June 11.
“Right now, J. D. is rehabbing because of a slight knee injury,” said Reyes. “So he won’t be 100 percent when he starts playing for Pampanga. He’s a legitimate Fil-Am whose mother was still a Filipino citizen when he was born. I think she’s from Pangasinan or Zambales. He looks very Pinoy. He’ll be the tallest point guard in the country.”
Reyes said Dillinger plans to play the required minimum of 25 games here for eligibility in the next PBA draft where another Fil-Am Gabe Norwood is expected to be the top pick.
Dillinger averaged 9.7 points in 30 games, including 25 starts, for the University of Hawaii as a senior this past season. He led the varsity in three-point field goal percentage at .383 with 51 conversions and was second in steals with 34. In NCAA Division I games, the crack guard shot 19 points against New Mexico State, 17 against Centenary College, 15 against New Mexico, 14 against Utah State (including the go-ahead basket with a minute left), 14 against Boise State and 12 in a 40-minute no-relief job in another game against Utah State.
The year before, Dillinger played only six minutes in six games as the last player in the 14-man Hawaii roster and his scholarship was nearly taken away. But he worked hard to keep his spot during the summer and became a starter in a remarkable turnaround.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” said Dillinger, quoted by Dayton Morinaga of the Honolulu Advertiser, referring to his sudden emergence. “It’s just grit, I guess. A ball, a hoop and some hard work. Last year was what made me strong mentally. I know I can’t take anything for granted. That’s why I try to give everything I have, every minute out there.”
Before enrolling at Hawaii, Dillinger played two years for the US Air Force Academy where he said he developed discipline, integrity and character. The Air Force posted a combined 40-18 record during his two years as a reserve guard. He averaged only 1.7 points as a freshman when Air Force made it to the NCAA Tournament, losing to North Carolina in the first round.
Dillinger’s Hawaii teammate Riley Luettgorodt told Morinaga: “He was always one of those guys you wanted on your team because he plays so hard and aggressive. This year, he started knocking down big shots and that just made him a complete player.”
University of Hawaii coach Bob Nash said: “He’s done everything we asked of him even last year when he was on scout team. It’s nice to see hard work pay off like that. There’s no mistaking his love for the game and if he can transfer that to the things he wants to do later in life, I think he’ll earn it there, too.”
Dillinger, who has never been to the Philippines, took up a Tagalog course at the University of Hawaii last year.
“I can’t speak the language,” said Dillinger who grew up with his father from five years old. “When I was in Tagalog class, I was calling up my little cousins to help me. They’re only in fourth and fifth grade but they got me through class. I eat Filipino food like pansit and lumpia (which) my mom used to cook all the time.”
Dillinger, whose double majors are international business and finance, said it’s his goal to play in the PBA. Liga Pilipinas is his stepping stone to the big league.
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