USJ-R Jaguars continue having trouble with Congolese player Quintin Nzuzi
In what is becoming an alarming trend for the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars, they find themselves once again without a foreign reinforcement with the continued absence of Congolese player Quintin Nzuzi.
According to veteran forward Kevin Villafranca, a member of the Cesafi’s Mythical Five last season, the 6-foot-11 Nzuzi has not practiced with the squad since early May when their stint in the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup ended.
Nzuzi himself confirmed that he indeed was no longer playing for the Jaguars in a brief message to Cebu Daily News. However, he declined to get into details on the reasons for his absence or to clarify the situation.
This is not the first time that Nzuzi has been at odds with USJ-R. Last year, the center was suspended indefinitely by head coach Jun Noel a few weeks before the start of the season for violating the team’s rule of not playing in commercial tournaments.
The suspension was eventually lifted after the big man apologized to the squad and pledged to do better, both on and off the court.
USJ-R’s assistant sports moderator Jonathan Saso also said that it is highly unlikely that Nzuzi will suit up for the Jaguars this season because of pressing academic issues.
Should that be the case, Villafranca remains confident in the system that Noel has implemented and is looking forward to doing more work as the new season of the Cesafi nears.
“We still have to manage our system. We have a lot of work to do for this season,” said the soft-spoken forward.
Noel is currently in the United States scouting for foreign and Fil-foreign players who can beef-up a Jaguars team that lost its two backcourt veterans James Regalado and Raymund Catipay during the off-season.