TWO years in the making and now Sedrick Barefield is ready to take his act to the PBA.
The no. 2 overall pick said he can't wait to finally get going in Asia's first ever play-for-pay league where he's expected to play a major role in Blackwater's campaign in the Governors' Cup for the first offering of Season 49.
Barefield credits the Bossing coaching staff led by Jeff Cariaso for making the transition smooth for him.
"Coach Jeff is doing a great job for us, and I'm just super blessed and thankful to be getting ready for this season," he said.
The Fil-Am guard already applied for the draft in 2022, but was stricken out of the final list at the last minute after his camp failed to produce a hard copy of his Philippine passport.
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Now he made sure to take care of significant details and other pertinent documents needed for him to be eligible to play.
"It was definitely part of the plan, and has been in the works for a while," said Barefield. "It's also just the stability and the love that I've received that made the decision to play (in the PBA) easy."
The Bossing had been preoccupied with pre-season games during the past few weeks where they have been a perfect 3-0 so far, noted Barefield.
"It's been great. We're building chemistry and camaraderie," he said.
But tune up matches are entirely a different thing compared to actual games that Barefield is tempering expectations both for himself and the team.
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"The only expectation I try to focus on is what the team asks from me. And that is to win games each and every game," he said.
"That's my main focus, going out there each night and being present to win games."
Barefield, 27, played under NBA champion coach Larry Brown with the MSU Mustangs before transferring later on to Utah.
He went undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft, but hooked up with the Oklahoma City Blue in the NBA G. League.
The Corona, California native also had stints with Lithuania, Greece, and Africa, and played briefly for the Bay Area Dragons in the East Asia Super League (EASL) and Taipei Fubon Braves in the P.League+. (RG)
