MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-Nigerian teenager AJ Edu turned heads during Gilas Pilipinas' practice last Tuesday at the Meralco Gym, as the 17-year-old towered over virtually every member of the men's national team.

Edu is set to represent the Philippines in the 2017 FIBA 3x3 Under-18 World Cup in China on June 28 to July 2, where he will team up with fellow youngsters Juan Gomez de Liaño, Rhayyan Amsali, and Encho Serrano.

Before leaving for Chengdu, however, Edu showed flashes of his potential during last Tuesday's Gilas practice. The 6-foot-10 teenager had a good stroke on his jumper, and readily finished alley-oops from the Gilas guards.

National team head coach Chot Reyes was suitably impressed.

"We always want to expose (the younger guys) to the national pool," he explained. "We've been looking at him (Edu) for a long time. That's why we wanted to get him here and practice with us."

Edu was admittedly nervous at the start, and indeed, he seemed reluctant to even talk to the older Gilas players. The youngster grew more comfortable as the night went on, however, and gamely participated in the half-court shooting contest that capped their practice.

"It's amazing," Edu said of his chance to practice with the senior team. "This is something that people dream of – an opportunity to come and train with the best players in the Philippines. It's really amazing."

• READ: Serbia wins FIBA 3x3 World Cup title, Philippines finishes 11th

According to Edu, he got the chance to attend Gilas practice as they had a break in training for the FIBA 3x3 Under-18 World Cup. If the teenager has his way, it won't be the last time that he will show up for training.

"I might be coming again," he said. "Hopefully, it will become something regular in the future. Right now, it's just an experience."

He was grateful for the Gilas players for giving him advice and encouraging him. "They just told me to keep doing what I'm doing," Edu said. "They kept giving me confidence, so it was really encouraging."

Edu and the rest of his teammates will leave for China on June 27, and the Fil-Nigerian anticipates a great experience in what will be his first time to wear national team colors.

"It's kind of emotional," he acknowledged. "One of the first times I'm doing something like that – representing a nation. It's quite emotional."

The Philippines are seeded eighth in the tournament, and are grouped with No. 1 Netherlands, No. 9 Poland, No. 16 Turkmenistan, and No. 17 Israel in Pool A. The top two teams in each pool will advance to the Final 16 and play each other in knockout games all the way to the finals.

In 2016, a Philippine team composed of John Lloyd Clemente, Joshua Flores, Joshua Sinclair, and Kyle Christian Tan finished 17th in a field of 20 teams.

(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.)