VAL Acuna is making a homecoming with the Purefoods franchise in the PBA.
The 35-year-old wingman is part of the Purefoods Tender Juicy Titans team that will see action in the league’s inaugural 3x3 tournament set for a Nov. 20 tip-off at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
Acuna will be joined by Pao Javelona, Jun Bonsubre, Jed Mendoza, and Joseph Eriobu in the team to be handled by Magnolia deputy coach Tony Boy Espinosa and assisted by Paul Sorongon.
Javelona and Eriobu both have experience playing in the PBA 5-on-5 game, while Bonsubre and Mendoza were picked by NLEX and NorthPort, respectively, in the last rookie draft but failed to land a contract.
But the three-a-side stint marks a memorable reunion for Acuna and the franchise that picked him in the second round (13th overall) of the 2010 draft.
He played three seasons with Purefoods (then carrying the B-Meg Llamados brand) in a stint that saw him become part of the team’s championship unit in the 2012 Commissioner’s Cup and 2013 Governors Cup.
Journeyman career
Acuna then took his act to the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) and won a title with the San Miguel Beer team.
The former University of the East stalwart later returned to Purefoods in 2014 (by then already playing as San Mig Coffee) and won two more championships in the Philippine Cup and Commissioner’s Cup, respectively.
He also had stints with NorthPort and Blackwater, Alab Pilipinas in the ABL, and with Batangas City Athletics and Valenzuela Classics in the MPBL, and MJAS Zenith-Talisay in the VisMin Cup.