University of Cebu not sending player to FIBA Asia U18 3×3 Championship in Malaysia
Ateneo de Cebu’s Andrew Velasco and Alex Visser, the University of Cebu’s Alen Pelegrino and National University’s Rhayyan Amsali will be representing the nation in the FIBA Asia U18 3×3 Championship in Cyberjaya, Malaysia on May 26-28.
Joe Lipa, the tournament head of the Under Armour 3×3 Southeast Asia competition, which helped determine the team’s composition, confirmed the news.
This writer had previously reported of the inclusion of the Hope Christian School’s Harvey Pagsanjan but the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) went with UC’s Pelegrino, who was part of the Baby Webmasters’ team that won the Under Armour pocket tournament last weekend.
The SBP management committee along with Executive Director Sonny Barrios evaluated the 16-player pool before coming up with a decision before the deadline of submission of lineups on Friday.
However, UC team manager, Atty. Baldomero Estenzo, said he was disappointed with the development in spite of his player’s inclusion to the national team.
He added that he wants to be fair to the rest of the team and intimated that Pelegrino will not join the Malaysia-bound squad.
“I’m disappointed to say the least. It’s all or nobody for the UC team. I don’t want to be unfair to any member of the team,” said Estenzo who was lobbying for the entire UC team to represent the country in the aforementioned Fiba tournament.
Estenzo is lobbying for an all-UC national squad after they were initially told that the winner of the Under Armour tournament would get to represent the country in the Malaysia tilt. However, the SBP asserted that they and only they, had the authority to select the players for the national team.
The SBP also added that their agreement with Under Armour was that the players of the top four finishers would comprise the pool from which the national squad would be picked.
Barrios expressed hope that all parties would act like “gentlemen” regarding their selections.
“The selection has to go through the right process. Hindi naman pwedeng magigising na lang ako at sabihin ko na ito na ang national team. I had to talk with the management committee first. Rest assured that we would send a team that would best represent the country,” Barrios said.
“But I understand that we can’t please everyone with whatever decision we make. Just like when we announced the Gilas team. There will always be corners that would argue bakit wala si ganito o si ganyan na mas magaling naman si ganito. I understand that but like I always say, I just hope that we can all be sportsmen and gentlemen and accept the decision,” added Barrios.
Velasco and Visser, vital cogs on the four-time defending champions Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles, were happy with their selection to the team.
“I feel blessed because it’s not every day you get a chance to represent your country. I’m just going to do my best to make the country proud,” said Velasco, the Negros-bred guard.
“I feel very excited about it and am grateful for this opportunity. Philippine basketball has always been dominant in the Southeast Asian region, so the team and I will do our best to bring home the bacon,” Visser chimed in.
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