Moala Delvalle Tautuaa Jr. (born April 30, 1989) is an American born Filipino-Tongan professional basketball player for the

San Miguel Beermen The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with the Magnolia Hotshots and Barangay Ginebra ...

of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

(PBA). He was drafted first overall by the

TNT Tropang Texters The TNT (cellular service), TNT Tropang Giga is a professional basketball team currently owned by Smart Communications, a subsidiary of the PLDT, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), playing in the Philippine Basketball Associat ...

in the

2015 PBA draft The 2015 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) rookie draft was an event which allows teams to draft players from the amateur ranks. The event was held at the Midtown Atrium, Robinsons Place Manila on August 23, 2015. From this draft on, the ...

High school and college career

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 Chadron State College is a public college in Chadron, Nebraska, US. It is one of three public colleges in the Nebraska State College System. It has open admission and an acceptance rate of 100%. According to College Factual, it has a six-year g ...

, an

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

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 The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...

. 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.

Professional career

ABL / PBA D-League

He applied for the

2012 NBA draft The 2012 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2012, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Asso ...

but went undrafted. He then decided to resume his basketball career by playing as an import for the

Westports Malaysia Dragons Kuala Lumpur Dragons is a professional basketball team based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that currently plays in the ASEAN Basketball League. It also played as the Blustar Detergent Dragons in the Philippines' PBA Developmental League in 2016. H ...

in the

ASEAN Basketball League The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) is a professional men's basketball league in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong/Macau, which includes six teams from Southeast Asian nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), one tea ...

. 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 Justin Brian Melton (born April 7, 1987), popularly known as QuickMelt, Mouse, The Flying Minion, and Minion is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the Blackwater Bossing of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was ...

. 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 The Cagayan Rising Suns were a basketball team owned by the family of Alvaro Antonio, governor of the Province of Cagayan from 2007 to 2016. The team was managed by daughter Criselda Antonio (incumbent mayor of Alcala, Cagayan) and coached by ...

. He helped the Suns reach the Finals against the powerhouse

Hapee Fresh Fighters The Hapee Fresh Fighters was a basketball team owned by Lamoiyan Corporation that played in the PBA Developmental League (PBA D-League). The franchise began in the Philippine Basketball League from 1994 until the league became dormant in 2010. Th ...

. He was then signed by the

Cebuana Lhuillier Gems The PBA Developmental League, or PBA D-League, is the Philippine Basketball Association's official minor league basketball organization. History The PBA D-League was conceptualized after the collapse of the proposed merger between the Phili ...

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.

PBA

After spending a season in the D-League, he applied, along with 16 other Fil-Foreigners, for the

, according to the list released by the PBA on August 10, 2015. He, along with former NU Bulldog

Troy Rosario Jeth Troy Utanes Rosario (born January 20, 1992) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Blackwater Bossing of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). College and amateur career Rosario played for two years at Technological I ...

, was the consensus top pick leading to the draft day. On August 23, 2015, he was drafted 1st overall by the

in the rookie draft. On August 27, 2015, both he and newly acquired #2 pick

signed maximum three-year rookie contracts with Talk 'N Text worth ₱ 8.5 million.

PBA career statistics

''As of the end of 2021 season''

Season-by-season averages

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, 59 , , 17.3 , , .519 , , .152 , , .563 , , 4.7 , , .8 , , .3 , , .2 , , 7.9 , - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left ,

, rowspan=2, 34 , , rowspan=2, 25.5 , , rowspan=2, .500 , , rowspan=2, .290 , , rowspan=2, .649 , , rowspan=2, 8.1 , , rowspan=2, 1.9 , , rowspan=2, .5 , , rowspan=2, .4 , , rowspan=2, 9.8 , - , align=left , GlobalPort / NorthPort , - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left , NorthPort , rowspan=2, 38 , , rowspan=2, 31.2 , , rowspan=2, .499 , , rowspan=2, .321 , , rowspan=2, .670 , , rowspan=2, 7.5 , , rowspan=2, 2.9 , , rowspan=2, .7 , , rowspan=2, .2 , , rowspan=2, 14.0 , - , align=left , San Miguel , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 13 , , 35.2 , , .602 , , .333 , , .600 , , 8.1 , , 2.5 , , .9 , , .5 , , 18.6 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 32 , , 19.1 , , .507 , , .293 , , .686 , , 4.6 , , .8 , , .3 , , .4 , , 9.0 , -class=sortbottom , colspan="2" align="center" , Career , 217 , , 22.4 , , .521 , , .290 , , .623 , , 5.8 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , .3 , , 10.3

International career

In 2015, Tautuaa joined the Gilas Pilipinas 3.0 training pool as a practice player and went with the entire team to

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

to participate in a pocket tournament. He also saw action in the

2015 William Jones Cup The 2015 William Jones Cup was the 37th staging of William Jones Cup, a top-level international basketball tournament of FIBA Asia. The tournament was held in Taiwan from 29 August until 6 September 2015. All games were played in Xinchuang Gymnasi ...

where Gilas won the silver medal. He would only be eligible to play for any

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

sanctioned tournament as an alternate naturalized player since he was not able to secure his Philippine passport before he turned 16 years old.

Player profile

Tautuaa is a versatile big man. He is considered a stretch "five" with ball-handling skills, range, passing abilities and someone who can rack up points, rebounds, assists, blocks, etc., not to mention his penchant for dunks, putbacks, chasing down loose balls and his uncanny basketball IQ.

Personal life

Tautuaa's father is Moala Sr. from the Pacific Island nation of

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

, while his mother is Romanita (''née'' Del Valle), a Filipina, who hails from

Taguig Taguig (), officially the City of Taguig ( fil, Lungsod ng Taguig), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in Metro Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 886,722 people. Located in the northwestern shores of ...

. He earned a degree in Criminal Justice, and can also speak Tagalog. He is often teased with the nickname "Pebbles".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tautuaa, Moala 1989 births Living people American men's basketball players American people of Tongan descent American sportspeople of Filipino descent Basketball players from California Centers (basketball) Chadron State Eagles men's basketball players Competitors at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games Competitors at the 2021 Southeast Asian Games Filipino expatriate basketball people in Malaysia Filipino expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Filipino men's 3x3 basketball players Filipino men's basketball players Citizens of the Philippines through descent Kuala Lumpur Dragons players NorthPort Batang Pier players People from San Mateo, California Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Philippines men's national basketball team players Philippines national 3x3 basketball team players Power forwards (basketball) San Miguel Beermen players Southeast Asian Games gold medalists for the Philippines Southeast Asian Games medalists in 3x3 basketball Southeast Asian Games medalists in basketball Southeast Asian Games silver medalists for the Philippines TNT Tropang Giga draft picks TNT Tropang Giga players