One of Guam’s top youth basketball players will join some of the best in the world in a 2016 Basketball Without Borders event slated for June in Australia, according to Guam men’s basketball program coordinator E.J. Calvo.

Kobe Sotelo, a veteran of the Guam youth national basketball team, will rub elbows with National Basketball Association and international players and coaches at the event.

The camp consists of a collection of players from various areas of the world that have been selected by FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, after feedback from local basketball federations. Calvo was told Guam could nominate a player to compete at that level. Sotelo, a junior who plays for the Harvest Christian Academy Eagles, was the group’s choice.

“The Guam Basketball Confederation officially nominated Kobe to the NBA camp for players born in 1999 ... this summer in Australia,” said Calvo. “I reached out to the NBA a couple of months ago, just trying to connect Guam basketball and look for opportunities.”

“We got the word that they’re going to be sending an official invite to Kobe soon,” Calvo said.

Sotelo was given the news at the GBC’s Junior National Basketball Camp on Saturday, April 23 at Southern High’s gym.

“It’s a great privilege to go and to be nominated. I don’t know how to explain it; I feel really honored to represent Guam. I promise to play my best out there,” Sotelo said.

The camp usually consists of a few days of basketball skills training and modified games, and concludes with an All-Star game comprised of the best players selected by the coaches. If Sotelo makes that team, that would be another breakthrough for the island. Some notable NBA players that have come out of the camp include Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies and Marco Belinelli of the San Antonio Spurs.

According to Brent Tipton, Guam youth boys’ national team head coach, Sotelo should represent Guam well.

“Kobe, he is a great athlete, but because he is so teachable and coachable, it makes him even greater,” Tipton said. “He has that athletic ability and skill, but on top of that he’s a greater young man.”

Calvo is glad Sotelo was selected, because it could mean so much for the youth program that’s the source of Guam’s basketball program.

“It’s just great that we’re going to have a representative from Guam competing against kids at that level. Who knows where it will lead in the future? … More coaching clinics, more player clinics?” Calvo said.

Sotelo is no newcomer to international competition. He was a part of Guam’s U19 team that competed in Fiji and will be the only returnee this year as the GBC starts to form its youth team.

“He will live up to that and deliver. Kobe is a great representation of what Guam basketball stands for,” said Tipton.