FOR Cole Micek, basketball comes first, even with his foray into modelling.
Micek is part of the 122 players who applied for the PBA Season 50 Draft, and participated in the two-day Draft Combine.
Though most people may know him as a model and as the rumoured boyfriend of Miss Universe Philippines 2024 Chelsea Manalo, Micek is actually a basketball player at heart. He once played for University of Saint Francis and coached at the Mamba Sports Academy.
The 29-year-old Micek had humble beginnings as a model.
“They asked me to model for the student bookstore at Ateneo. I never thought about modelling before, and then they asked me in Ateneo. Then, I started modelling here in the Philippines,” he said.
But his passion for basketball never wavered, even with this other budding career.
“It’s been a lifelong childhood dream of mine to play in the PBA,” said the 6-foot-1 Micek. “We made the decision last week.”
Micek was good enough to be signed by the Macau Black Bears in The Asian Tournament, and was being eyed as well to play in the EASL. But with the PBA Draft right around the corner, he decided to pursue it instead.
“My contract just expired with them (Macau). We were just going to see if we were going to renew it and play in the EASL with them. But I talked to the coaches, talked to my agent, it was like, now it’s the time to join the PBA,” he said.
When asked about what he can contribute to the PBA team that will choose him, Micek said that aside from his outside shooting, he will also be a hard worker.
As he put it, “I’m just going to be really a hardworking player, a really good teammate. I like to bring a lot of good energy to my teammates, always cheer them on, cheer for their success. I want to be the team leader in high fives… And I play hard all the time. So I’m bringing my passion, I'm bringing everything that the team needs.”
It's on for Ashon!
Ashon Andrews tread a similar path as Micek. A onetime player for the University of the Philippines, Andrews also ventured into modelling, even becoming the grand winner of the Great Man of the Universe Philippines 2024.
But he also has an ongoing basketball career with the high-flyer seeing action for the Mindoro Tamaraws in the MPBL.
“It was always a passion of mine that I wanted to do in the States,” said Andrews, referring to having a modelling career. “People contact me, so that’s something I started pursuing, just extra money to have."
“I just had a lot of free time, so I just decided to join it. Luckily I actually won,” he added, talking about winning an award in modelling.
READ: Former UP guard opens eyes in PBA Draft Combine tests
Andrews, though, made it clear that basketball remains his top priority.
“I'll probably focus more on this because it's more important. I’ll be very grateful and just keep working hard,” he said.
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