After the PBA's only game of the 2020 season so far last March 8, Magnolia guard P.J. Simon imparted some words of wisdom that undrafted players of recent years could lean on in an uphill journey into the league.
"[T]hey shouldn't lose hope because that's what happened to me. There were times that I wanted to give up, but I kept going," he said in Filipino. "Hopefully to the undrafted players, they don't lose hope. They can't give up because if I could do it, for sure they could do it too."
Simon was by no means an undrafted player. The eight-time PBA champion was overlooked when he went unsigned after being picked 43rd overall by Sta. Lucia in the 2001 draft, but being drafted meant that he was still on the radar more than other players who couldn't draw the same opportunity.
The guard's words, however, ring truer than anything that has ever been said about undrafted players, and many after him may have certainly taken his career arc as one of their inspirations moving forward. Here are some of the most notable ones.
Josh Urbiztondo
Urbiztondo went undrafted in the 2009 rookie draft but was later signed by Sta. Lucia, where he made enough impact to be the only non-first rounder to make that season's All-Rookie Team that was also composed of Rico Maierhofer, Jervy Cruz, Ogie Menor and Ronnie Matias.
His days in B-Meg, however, were probably the most recognizable parts of his career. Urbiztondo lived up to the 'Fireball' moniker endearingly placed on him by fans and frequently provided a spark off the bench for the Llamados, who captured the 2012 Commissioner's Cup title in a tightly-contested seven-game series against Talk 'N Text.
Urbiztondo was also an All-Star that year and scored 21 points in a start for the Rookies-Sophomores-Juniors side that lost to the Veterans in the main game.
The Filipino-American guard had stints with Air21, Barangay Ginebra, Barako Bull and GlobalPort, as well as with the Singapore Slingers and with Alab Pilipinas in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) before retiring last year.
Chico Lanete
After failing to get the call-up in the 2006 draft, he got his big break in the following year with Purefoods and made the most out of that opportunity in a solid first year, earning him the distinction of being the only undrafted player that year to make the All-Rookie Team alongside first round picks Joe Devance, Ryan Reyes and Doug Kramer, and second-round pick Ronjay Buenafe.
The sweet-shooting point guard from Lyceum later hopped around for a bit with Barangay Ginebra, Burger King, Powerade, Meralco, Barako Bull/Phoenix and Petron before finally settling with San Miguel, a team with whom he won three titles from 2017 to 2019.
After a 13-year PBA career, Lanete has reportedly taken his act to the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) with the Sarangani Marlins.
Philip Paniamogan
Like Corpuz, Paniamogan went undrafted in 2014 and had quite a ride before finding a home in the PBA. The 28-year-old sharpshooter out of Jose Rizal University made his league debut a year later and spent the next three years with GlobalPort and Columbian before moving to the MPBL with Makati.
His stint there may have caught the eye of NLEX, who later opened the door for Paniamogan's league comeback. He didn't disappoint and elevated his game by being the team's best shooter last season, when he made a team-high 58 triples on a blistering 40.8 percent shooting -- no shooter who played a minimum of four games for the Road Warriors shot a better clip for coach Yeng Guiao's perimeter-centric offense.
Paniamogan was recently handed a two-year extension and is expected to continue providing timely boosts off the bench for NLEX.
Mark Yee
Yee's lasting trait as a scrapper may be the reason he managed to carve out a pretty lengthy career in the league despite failing to have his name called in the 2008 rookie proceedings. His numbers weren't eye-popping, but his work was liked enough to land him stints with Burger King, Meralco, GlobalPort, the Kia franchise and Talk 'N Text, where he won two titles in 2011.
The 38-year-old forward was reportedly targeted by Phoenix last year before a new ruling disallowing players from being released to the PBA while the current MPBL conference is ongoing put off his return.
Yee was playing with a partial ACL tear for Davao in the MPBL playoffs before an enhanced quarantine was imposed on the entire Luzon mainland.
Jerwin Gaco
If we're counting titles, Gaco probably takes the cake. The 6-foot-4 big man from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and Del La Salle University had a largely unremarkable career after going undrafted in the 2005 draft, but he still managed to stick around for six years in the PBA while taking home five titles, including one Grand Slam, with the Purefoods franchise. He achieved cult status among Purefoods fans, who called themselves "Gaco-natics".
The 39-year-old is still playing today and is logging good minutes with the Davao Occidental Tigers in the MPBL.
Jonathan Uyloan
Uyloan spent most of his PBA years as a combo guard off the bench for Rain or Shine, where he thrived in limited minutes and won a title with during the 2012 Governors' Cup.
The 36-year-old, undrafted in 2009, also suited up for GlobalPort, Meralco and NLEX before shifting to the MPBL.
Jackson Corpuz
There's a chance that Corpuz could turn in a more productive career than anyone else on this list if he is able to continue building on his gains.
Corpuz wasn't among the names selected in the 2014 draft but scraped his way to relevance from the D-League into the PBA with the Kia franchise, where he attracted a lot of attention for his play. He frequently makes the correct reads on defense -- Corpuz has averaged a block and a steal per game in the last two All-Filipino conferences -- is a relentless rebounder, and is an adaptable piece on offense that doesn't need the ball to be effective.
Magnolia, which traded for the forward last December, views the 31-year-old as a vital piece, and for good reason: Corpuz could probably help the Hotshots hustle their way into a title in the near future. In the Hotshots' opening night loss against the San Miguel Beermen in the currently-suspended Philippine Cup, Corpuz was one of the lone bright spots and tallied 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting, 13 rebounds and two assists in 30 minutes off the bench.
Rudy Lingganay
The 5-foot-10 guard out of University of the East was signed by Powerade before the 2011-12 Philippine Cup and was at times a very significant piece off the bench for the Tigers, who took down B-Meg in the quarterfinals to become only the third eight-seeded team in league history to knock off the no. 1 team.
Lingganay would then have stops in GlobalPort, Kia, NLEX and TNT before taking his act to CLS Knights Indonesia in the ABL and with Makati in the MPBL.
Bryan Faundo
Faundo isn't as flashy as his fellow undrafted counterparts still playing in the PBA today, but he's serviceable enough to be part of a roster today after going undrafted in 2009. The 6-foot-6 center is currently playing for the Meralco Bolts -- his second stint with the team and his sixth after previous stops in Barako Bull, Air 21, Petron, Barangay Ginebra, and Blackwater.
A hypothetical team of undrafted standouts won't be complete without a staff of coaches who went through the same experience, so here are the most distinguished ones.
Jong Uichico
Uichico is easily the most decorated from our list of three here, having amassed nine PBA titles with San Miguel, Barangay Ginebra and Talk 'N Text, two Coach of the Year citations, two All-Star Game coaching stints and a gold medal in the 2013 and 2017 Southeast Asian Games.
As a player, Uichico experienced his fair share of winning and was part of the Under-18 team that won the Asian Championships gold in 1982. He wasn't able to get himself drafted in 1988, though.
Siot Tanquingcen
The 47-year-old had a relatively longer playing career than Uichico. Teams passed on Tanquincen in 1995, but he was able to hit the floor for Sunkist and San Miguel, as well as the Pampanga Dragons in the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association. Tanquingcen was also part of the UST Growling Tigers' historic four-peat run under the late Aric del Rosario and played for a Philippine national team that captured gold in the 1993 Southeast Asian Games.
As coach, Tanquingcen won three titles -- two with Barangay Ginebra and one with San Miguel -- and he and Uichico are the only rookie coaches to win back-to-back titles in the same year.
Junel Baculi
Baculi, who went undrafted in 1989, was a former coach of GlobalPort and Barako Bull in the PBA before assuming the athletic director post in National University back in UAAP Season 77 and being named league commissioner in Season 81. He was also part of the Mapua team that won the NCAA title back in 1981.