No. 7 – TNT KaTropa | |||||||||||||
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Position | Center / Power forward | ||||||||||||
League | PBA | ||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born |
San Mateo, California |
April 30, 1989 ||||||||||||
Nationality | Filipino / Tongan | ||||||||||||
Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | ||||||||||||
Listed weight | 245 lb (111 kg) | ||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||
High school | Claremont (Claremont, California) | ||||||||||||
College | Chadron State (2008–2012) | ||||||||||||
NBA draft | 2012 / Undrafted | ||||||||||||
PBA draft | 2015 Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall | ||||||||||||
Selected by the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters | |||||||||||||
Playing career | 2012–present | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
2012–2014 | Westports Malaysia Dragons | ||||||||||||
2014–2015 | Cagayan Rising Suns | ||||||||||||
2015 | Cebuana Lhuillier Gems | ||||||||||||
2015–present | TNT Tropang Texters / Tropang TNT / TNT KaTropa | ||||||||||||
Medals
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Moala D. Tautuaa Jr. (born April 30, 1989) is an American born Filipino-Tongan professional basketball player for the TNT KaTropa of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted first overall by the TNT Tropang Texters in the 2015 PBA draft.
Tautuaa attended high school at Claremont High School in Claremont, California. In his senior year at Claremont High, he averaged 21 points and seven rebounds per game.
He suited up for Chadron State College, a NCAA Division II school. He led the CSC Eagles in scoring with 12.9 points a game and rebounding with 5.6 per game in his senior year. His 63.5 percent field goal percentage led the team and ranked second in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. During his career at CSC, he shot 62.6 percent (426-681) from the field to break the old mark of 61.9 percent that Elijah Collins set during 2001-05. He finished with 1,160 points, tying him for 17th all-time at CSC.
He applied for the 2012 NBA draft but went undrafted. He then decided to resume his basketball career by playing as an import for the Westports Malaysia Dragons in the ASEAN Basketball League. Initially discovered by former PBA player Pongky Alolor, he was introduced to KL Dragons' head coach Ariel Vanguardia during the latter's visit to San Francisco and was recruited to join the team. He became teammates and friends with current PBA player Justin Melton. He averaged 15.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 0.6 block for the Dragons, who started off the 2014 season with a 2-1 win-loss record.
After his stint in the ABL, he processed his citizenship papers at the Bureau of Immigration of the Philippines to prove his Filipino lineage and applied for the 2014 PBA D-League Draft, where he was drafted first overall by Cagayan Rising Suns. He helped reach the Suns to the Finals against the powerhouse Hapee Fresh Fighters. He was then signed by the Cebuana Lhuillier Gems into a one-conference contract, where he spent the remainder of the season. He was the 2015 PBA D-League Foundation Cup MVP while playing for Cebuana Lhuillier and took them to the semifinals.