There’s only one last hurdle left to enter the Draft. What will be the fate of the public participants?
The KBL held the 2023 KBL Rookie Draft physical test for the general public at Sono Arena in Goyang on the 4th. A total of 12 players passed the screening, but Kim Sang-yu (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies) and Joo Bong-jo (POSTECH)안전놀이터 were unable to attend due to personal reasons, leaving a total of 10 players for the test. Choi Jun-gil, Kim Yoo-taek, Choi Yang-im, and Nam Kyung-won served as the judges.
Although the warm-up started at 10:30, the participants arrived early and warmed up in their own way. Jo Jun-hee (Cerritos College), who studied in Canada about eight years ago and was in the spotlight when she joined the IMG Academy, prepared for the test by showing off her athleticism, including an easy dunk.
Jo Jun-hee (University of Cerritos)
In addition to Jo, Jung Joo-young (Sangmyung University), Kim Geun-hyun (Sungkyunkwan University), and Seo Moon-se-chan (Hanyang University) are also familiar faces to basketball fans. All of them participated in the draft for the Korean Basketball Association, but were not selected. They returned to the draft with renewed determination. Lee Sang-beom, who made waves as the first player from a military academy to participate in the draft, also showed up as scheduled.
After warming up for about 30 minutes, the players were tested on the basics, including triangle passes, one-on-one fast breaks, one-on-one fast breaks, and moving shots. They then split into teams for a 5-on-5 game, playing four 10-minute quarters.
Although it was difficult for players who had never met each other to show organized play in a sudden team, the participants did not hesitate to shoot whenever they had the chance. Seo Moon Se-chan even made a deep three. The 5-on-5 match ended without any injuries.
Seo Moon Se-chan (Hanyang University)
Meanwhile, the KBL will announce the winners of the draft on May 5, after summarizing the judges’ scores. The total number of players participating in the draft will also be revealed on that day. So far, a total of 27 participants have been confirmed, including 22 college graduates and five early entrants.
Choi Jun-gil, a member of the judging committee, said, “It’s an absolute evaluation. We focused on whether they can compete (in the draft), not how many people we pass. Physical condition was also included in the evaluation, but we gave more weight to fundamentals and performance.”