BASKETBALL/Int'l student Mbaye named 2024 PLG Draft first pick

Taipei, July 12 (CNA) The P.LEAGUE+ (PLG) saw an international student become the first pick of its draft for a second year in a row as the Taipei Fubon Braves selected Mouhamed Lamine Mbaye from National Chengchi University (NCCU) on Friday.

In the first PLG draft following a tectonic shift that reduced the number of PLG franchises from six to four, the 23-year-old Senegalese joined Joof Alasan, an international student at National Taiwan University of Arts who was selected by the Hsinchu Lioneers (now Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers) as the first overall pick in 2023, to come out on top of the PLG draft.

The selection was part of a three-for-one trade between the Braves and the Kaohsiung 17LIVE Steelers announced Friday morning, in which the Braves sent two-year guard Chen Fan Po-yen (陳范柏彥) and their third picks in the first two rounds to the southern port city in exchange for the first overall pick.

The Tainan TSG GhostHawks selected Lee Yun-Chieh (李允傑) from NCCU with the second pick, while the Steelers selected international Marcus Quirk from National Formosa University as the third pick.

In addition to Mbaye and Lee, two more players from NCCU -- Wang Kai-yu (王凱裕) and Chuang Chao-sheng (莊朝勝) -- were also drafted, making the Griffins the only university team with multiple players drafted on Friday.

A total of 11 players were picked, with seven coming from different universities.

This is the second time a player was picked in the fifth round since the summer of 2021, when the event was first held. In the previous two years, the draft did not go beyond the fourth round.

Another draft will be held on July 23 by the Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL), a new league comprising seven teams after a franchise reshuffle involving the PLG and T1 LEAGUE franchises merged.