College Basketball
Bleacher Talk
July 19, 2009
College Basketball
With the NBA and PBA seasons coming to a close, the period of July onwards in the Philippines is virtually “reserved” for another type of basketball that is just as popular as the pro leagues. Timing couldn’t have been more perfect. As the pros cool their heels and head home for a much-needed rest, things are just heating up for college basketball and all the school-based basketball competitions across all levels.
College Basketball. It’s fast-paced, dynamic, full of youth and boasts of a more solid base of fan support that would rival that of Barangay Ginebra or any other PBA team. It also features THE most awaited rivalry of all of basketball (PBA included). The competition is intense among all the various leagues across the country. And just as the competition within each league is at its highest, also present albeit in a more subtle way is the battle for bragging rights as to which collegiate league is the best in town. Like the international world of boxing, college basketball is composed a host of alphabet organizations scattered across the country.
Leading the pack is the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Cebu’s very own Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc (CESAFI) considers itself the top league outside Manila and prides itself in being the top source of talents from the south. And so what are the other leagues out there? Let’s skip the full names and rattle them off: NCRAA, NAASCU, UCAA, NOPSCEA, BBEAL, SCUAA, CUSA, MMICAA, NCAA South, BSAAA, OCSSO, VAAA, COSAA and UCLAA. I’m sure there are other more collegiate leagues out there, but this lot make up the bigger groups. You can be sure that the “AA” will most likely stand for Athletic Association, while a C and U will stand for “Collegiate” or “Universities.”
Determining the top collegiate league in the land isn’t that difficult. All that one has to look out for is popularity among basketball fans and TV exposure. Only the UAAP and NCAA have live nationwide TV coverage for all its games. Fan support is another indicator of a league’s popularity, and this you’ll see in many leagues, but you’ll have the top leagues having a more intense and loyal base of support from its fans. Just go watch an actual game and you’ll see what I mean. What you see on TV is only half the story.
Another way to see which collegiate league is the most stable, popular and competitive is to check how many of its players (products) end up in the PBA. If one makes it to the PBA, we can conclude that he’s already among the best players in the country as this is already to highest level of play in the Philippines. But instead of looking at every single player in the PBA, let’s take a random look at one team. Let’s pick out San Miguel since they just won the championship of the PBA’s Motolite Fiesta Conference.
A look at the official 17-man San Miguel roster in www.pba.ph will show how it’s like a collection of UAAP alumni all-stars. The Beermen have ten UAAP alumni coming from six different UAAP schools. Olsen Racela and Wesley Gonzales are products of the Ateneo de Manila. Danny Ildefonso, Lordy Tugade and Froilan Baguion played for National University. The other UAAP alumni are Mike Cortez (La Salle), Jonas Villanueva (FEU), Bonbon Custodio (UE), and Ken Bono (Adamson). The lone NCAA alumnus is Chris Calaguio of Letran. Cebu’s Dondon Hontiveros (UC) is the lone CAAA/CESAFI product. Samigue Eman played for UM in Mindanao, while Marc Pringis is listed as a product of PSBA which plays in the NCRAA. Everyone already knows that San Miguel’s Fil-Ams played college ball in the U.S. - Dorian Pena (Coppin State Univ), Jay Washington (Eckerd College), Mick Pennisi (Eastern Michigan Univ.), and Danny Seigle (Wagner College).
Not satisfied feeling that this may be biased, I checked out runner-up Barangay Ginebra’s line-up and found out that they had eight UAAP products (Cabatu, Kramer, Intal, Escalona, Reyes, Wilson, Tubid & Artadi) and again, only one CAAA/CESAFI alumnus (Junthy Valenzuela). Seven are Fil-Ams (Mamaril, Reavis, Helterbrand, Pacaña, Menk, Crisano & Caguioa), and one (Salvacion) is from the NCAA.
So what does that tell you? In a way, I’d like to be biased and brag that the CESAFI has many products in the PBA, but I can’t. We’re simply outnumbered. But the again, it’s also an opportunity for us to step up and do something about it. We’re already excited about June Mar Fajardo and Greg Slaughter being shoo-ins to make it to the PBA within five years, but we’ve go to churn our more.
For now, we’ll all admire the UAAP for being up there, hoping soon that we’ll join them soon.
July 19, 2009
College Basketball
With the NBA and PBA seasons coming to a close, the period of July onwards in the Philippines is virtually “reserved” for another type of basketball that is just as popular as the pro leagues. Timing couldn’t have been more perfect. As the pros cool their heels and head home for a much-needed rest, things are just heating up for college basketball and all the school-based basketball competitions across all levels.
College Basketball. It’s fast-paced, dynamic, full of youth and boasts of a more solid base of fan support that would rival that of Barangay Ginebra or any other PBA team. It also features THE most awaited rivalry of all of basketball (PBA included). The competition is intense among all the various leagues across the country. And just as the competition within each league is at its highest, also present albeit in a more subtle way is the battle for bragging rights as to which collegiate league is the best in town. Like the international world of boxing, college basketball is composed a host of alphabet organizations scattered across the country.
Leading the pack is the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Cebu’s very own Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc (CESAFI) considers itself the top league outside Manila and prides itself in being the top source of talents from the south. And so what are the other leagues out there? Let’s skip the full names and rattle them off: NCRAA, NAASCU, UCAA, NOPSCEA, BBEAL, SCUAA, CUSA, MMICAA, NCAA South, BSAAA, OCSSO, VAAA, COSAA and UCLAA. I’m sure there are other more collegiate leagues out there, but this lot make up the bigger groups. You can be sure that the “AA” will most likely stand for Athletic Association, while a C and U will stand for “Collegiate” or “Universities.”
Determining the top collegiate league in the land isn’t that difficult. All that one has to look out for is popularity among basketball fans and TV exposure. Only the UAAP and NCAA have live nationwide TV coverage for all its games. Fan support is another indicator of a league’s popularity, and this you’ll see in many leagues, but you’ll have the top leagues having a more intense and loyal base of support from its fans. Just go watch an actual game and you’ll see what I mean. What you see on TV is only half the story.
Another way to see which collegiate league is the most stable, popular and competitive is to check how many of its players (products) end up in the PBA. If one makes it to the PBA, we can conclude that he’s already among the best players in the country as this is already to highest level of play in the Philippines. But instead of looking at every single player in the PBA, let’s take a random look at one team. Let’s pick out San Miguel since they just won the championship of the PBA’s Motolite Fiesta Conference.
A look at the official 17-man San Miguel roster in www.pba.ph will show how it’s like a collection of UAAP alumni all-stars. The Beermen have ten UAAP alumni coming from six different UAAP schools. Olsen Racela and Wesley Gonzales are products of the Ateneo de Manila. Danny Ildefonso, Lordy Tugade and Froilan Baguion played for National University. The other UAAP alumni are Mike Cortez (La Salle), Jonas Villanueva (FEU), Bonbon Custodio (UE), and Ken Bono (Adamson). The lone NCAA alumnus is Chris Calaguio of Letran. Cebu’s Dondon Hontiveros (UC) is the lone CAAA/CESAFI product. Samigue Eman played for UM in Mindanao, while Marc Pringis is listed as a product of PSBA which plays in the NCRAA. Everyone already knows that San Miguel’s Fil-Ams played college ball in the U.S. - Dorian Pena (Coppin State Univ), Jay Washington (Eckerd College), Mick Pennisi (Eastern Michigan Univ.), and Danny Seigle (Wagner College).
Not satisfied feeling that this may be biased, I checked out runner-up Barangay Ginebra’s line-up and found out that they had eight UAAP products (Cabatu, Kramer, Intal, Escalona, Reyes, Wilson, Tubid & Artadi) and again, only one CAAA/CESAFI alumnus (Junthy Valenzuela). Seven are Fil-Ams (Mamaril, Reavis, Helterbrand, Pacaña, Menk, Crisano & Caguioa), and one (Salvacion) is from the NCAA.
So what does that tell you? In a way, I’d like to be biased and brag that the CESAFI has many products in the PBA, but I can’t. We’re simply outnumbered. But the again, it’s also an opportunity for us to step up and do something about it. We’re already excited about June Mar Fajardo and Greg Slaughter being shoo-ins to make it to the PBA within five years, but we’ve go to churn our more.
For now, we’ll all admire the UAAP for being up there, hoping soon that we’ll join them soon.
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