Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 28) – The two leading teams in the UAAP seniors men’s basketball tournament have strengthened their already strong lineup ahead of their future campaigns.
The Ateneo De Manila University Blue Eagles – who enjoy a 13-game winning streak in the current UAAP Season 84 cage wars and remain unbeaten for 39 games since Season 81 in 2018 – announced they have secured Filipino Canadian guard Albert Opeña Jr. to Katipunan.
“He’s a big guard and he’s got size. He’s very strong, well built, and he’s got quick feet and quick hands,” Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin described Opeña’s style of play in a media conference.
The 20-year-old Opeña – whose father hails from Nueva Vizcaya and mother from Pasig City – played a year with St. Lawrence College in Ottawa.
Opeña averaged 8.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in the 18 games he played in the last Ontario Colleges Athletic Association season.
The defending UAAP champions also sealed the commitment of Filipino Australian big man Mason Amos, who attended the Katipunan-based school in high school before returning to Australia.
“Mason gives us that inside-outside presence. He is a big, strong player. He is an aggressive player as many Australians are,” Baldwin said.
The 6-foot-7 Amos was supposed to be part of the Gilas Youth Under-16 team that would have competed in the 2019 FIBA U-16 Asian Championship, but the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amos will graduate from high school in Australia in December.
Meanwhile, Ateneo’s neighbor University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons snagged another blue-chip recruit in Chicco Briones from National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics team Carroll College.
Briones – the son of former PBA player Lowell – began his basketball career in Sacred Heart School-Ateneo De Cebu before transferring to Sierra Vista High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 6-foot-6 Briones logged 18 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game in his senior year at Sierra Vista.
In Carroll College, Briones averaged 2.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game as a rookie for the Fighting Saints.
UP’s men basketball program director Bo Perasol said they’ve been trying to recruit Briones to play for the Maroons for four years now.
“He started practicing with us in Las Vegas and after that, we had at least two more meetings with him and his parents so it’s such a joy to finally culminate this and what a way to start his playing career in the Philippines than to be with the UP Fighting Maroons,” said Perasol.
Maroons head coach Goldwin Monteverde said Briones’ abilities are good assets for the squad hoping to end its 36-year title drought in the collegiate league.
“He could create some mismatches for us and he’s a very good shooter. He’s not going to be surprised with the kind of physicality or pace that we play here in the Philippines,” said Monteverde, whose team holds second place in UAAP Season 84 with an 11-2 slate.
Amos, Briones, and Opeña all need to sit out for a year per UAAP residency rules and will be eligible to play in Season 86 in 2023.
