A BUMPER crop of incoming freshmen led by potential first-round picks Filipino American Sedrick Barefield, former Gilas Pilipinas members Justin Baltazar, RJ Abarrientos, Sean Dave Ildefonso and Ben Philips, along with UAAP champions CJ Cansino, Evan Nelle and Francis Escandor of La Salle headline the 2024 PBA Rookie Draft set on July 14.

A total of 70 rookie hopeful managed to beat the deadline for application on Thursday, with former Adamson playmaker Jerom Lastimosa, Filipino American wingman Caelan Tiongson, CJ Catapusan, Paul Garcia and San Beda's Peter Alfaro, among the other key talents that threw their hat into the annual draft.

Converge will get the first crack at dipping its hand in the draft pool followed by Blackwater, Terrafirma, Phoenix and NorthPort.

Barefield is a potential top overall pick, owing to his solid basketball credentials.

After spending his collegiate years with the Southern Methodist University Mustangs and Utah, he went on to play for the Oklahoma City Blue in 2020 and 2022 in the NBA G-League.

The 27-year-old Filipino American guard also took his act in Lithuania, Greece and Taiwan, and once suited up for the Bay Area Dragons in the East Asia Super League in 2023.

Meantime, the 6-foot-7 Baltazar is also another potential No. 1 pick owing to his size, versatility and experience.

All 70 rookie applicants are expected to undergo the two-day Draft Combine on July 10-11 at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

The opening day of the Draft Combine will have all rookie hopefuls screened based on their physical, athletic and mental fitness.

The last day will have all rookies distributed to different teams and play against each other.