Raffy Celis (fifth from left) and Michael Asoro (fifth from right) join Ateneo Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin (center) and the SHS-AdC Magis Eagles sports and school officials in a presser on Monday, April 10, in Mandaue City. | Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines—- Two of the country’s best high school basketball players are slowly making their dreams come true.
Raffy Celis and Michael Asoro of the vaunted Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles shared the same dream of playing for their sister team, the Ateneo Blue Eagles men’s basketball team in the UAAP.
Celis and Asoro’s dreams came true when they formally donned the blue and white jersey of the reigning UAAP men’s basketball champions after they were officially welcomed by no less than the team’s head coach and basketball program head Tab Baldwin.
Baldwin, Asoro, Celis, and the rest of the SHS-AdC officials and their parents held a presser earlier on Monday, April 10, at the SHS-AdC campus in Mandaue City.
The 19-year-old Celis of Bacolod City, Negros Occidental didn’t think twice when he was offered to play for the Blue Eagles.
“Gusto ko talaga Ateneo, hindi lang basketball, but also sa life, and I want to graduate as a blue-blooded Atenean,” said the 6-foot-3 combo player.
“Blissful mi karon. Naa mi karon with my family, we are ready to start our journey in college,” he adds.
Celis missed the title-winning campaign of the Magis Eagles in the last season of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi), but he still got the chance to suit up for his team in the recent National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) National Finals along with Asoro and another star player, Jared Bahay.
Celis and Asoro were almost identical in their average points per game during the NBTC with 17 points. They towed the team to the semifinals along with Bahay, who already committed to the UP Fighting Maroons basketball team earlier this month.
However, they got eliminated by the National University (NU) Nazareth Bullpups headed by another Cebuano star Reinhard Jumamoy, who has also committed to the NU Bulldogs.
For Asoro, 18, of Lapu-Lapu City, being recruited by one of UAAP’s most winningest teams is an opportunity that he would never miss.
“It’s a great opportunity for me to play for Ateneo. We’re really excited to practice and play. Dream school ko po talaga ang Ateneo, gusto ko po talaga makalaro sa Ateneo. Gusto ko rin maka graduate sa Ateneo. Alam ko na hindi lang basketball yung makakatulong sa akin, pati academics din,” said Asoro, who is the Magis Eagles’ elite combo guard.
EXCELLENT TWO-WAY PLAYERS
For Baldwin, he has many reasons why he recruited Asoro and Celis to the Blue Eagles. He said both have the flexibility to become two-way players.
“As a basketball coach, they play defense and rebound the ball, Michael is a capable rebounder. But I want to develop him into a point guard. He’s obviously a great shooter, but he’s also one of the tougher perimeter defenders around making him a great fit for our program,” said Baldwin who also mentioned of the “Cebuano Toughness,” a quality that he saw in the two players.
“Raffy, everybody saw what he did in the NBTC, too many people in the Philippines and media, focus on the scoring ability. The fact they’re both two-way players, that’s what I love, that’s the provincial toughness i really admire, that we’re lacking of that in our program, we need more, it’s a great sight to welcome these guys all the way to graduating in Ateneo.”
Aside from being excellent players, Baldwin also noted that they wouldn’t recruit Celis and Asoro if they weren’t excellent students.
PROUD COACH
Rommel Rasmo, Celis and Asoro’s head coach and mentor in the Magis Eagles, said that he is very proud of his two boys for what they’ve achieved in their respective basketball careers.
“As a coach. I’m very proud sa dalawa. I hope this will be the start of something, hopefully marami pa kaming ma produce na players in the future,” said Rasmo, a many-time Cesafi high school basketball champion.
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