Magnolia beat Red Bull in their virtual tug-o-war for the services of Jameel Watkins while Purefoods was finally able to convince Darius Lashaun Rice to play for the team in the coming PBA Fiesta Cup.
The Beverage Masters and the Giants struck deals with Watkins and Rice yesterday leaving the Barakos as the only team still without an import two weeks before the opening of the reinforced tourney.
“I knew Red Bull was also interested in Watkins but his agent committed the player to us as early as a month ago,” said Magnolia coach Siot Tanquingcen.
“It took Watkins awhile to sign up since his wife was pregnant. She gave birth only last Friday,” Tanquingcen added.
Watkins, a former NBA player who suited up with the Shell Turbochargers in 2005, was among Red Bull’s import prospects.
The 6-foot-8 Watkins was fresh from the Chinese league where he teamed up with former Ginebra import Chris Porter with the Fujian team. He has also played in Korea the last three years, winning one championship with the Dongbu ball club.
The Georgetown U product had 27.3 points, 51.2 percent shooting, 18.0 rebs, 3.9 assists and 2.8 blocks a game for Shell.
Purefoods, meanwhile, was finally able to convince Rice to play in the local pro league after completing his current tour of duty in Puerto Rico.
The 6-foot-10 Rice, 25, was a highly scouted NBA prospect while playing with the Miami Hurricanes from 2000 to 2004.
He made the All-Big East Second Team and First Team All-District 6 by the NABC in his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons and finished his collegiate career as the fourth all-time leading scorer in school history with 1,865 points. He was the only player in school history to lead the team in scoring in four consecutive seasons.
He also ranked first in games started (113), 10th in games played (116), third in minutes (3,727), sixth in field goals (631), second in three-point field goals (260), and fifth in 20-point games (35).
A nephew of NFL receiver Jerry Rice, Darius led the Dakota Wizards to the NBDL championship in the 2006-07 season, firing 52 points in the final game.