FROM the very beginning of his collegiate level debut, Collins Akowe lived up to the hype.
University of Santo Tomas' new foreign student-athlete ravaged defending champion University of the Philippines, 87-67, where better than on their home court UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
READ: Collins Akowe too much to handle in UST statement win against UP
The Nigerian anchor hammered home 29 points in efficient 9-of-15 shooting from the field to go with 17 rebounds - not a single foul in sight.
Still coming to terms with donning the Growling Tigers jersey, Akowe made sure to showcase to the Thomasian crowd exactly what they had just acquired.
As he put it, “I never saw myself playing for UST, I never envisioned it, but I'm grateful to be here.”
With Akowe dominating all of Francis Nnoruka, Gani Stevens, Sean Alter, and Migs Palanca, the black-and-gold cruised to a 20-point beatdown of the Fighting Maroons to take their first win with maximum force.
“It's a great atmosphere, great community and I appreciate everyone man,” he said.
Of course, another notabe player on the other side of Akowe’s dominant performance was Palanca, with the two being the 1-2 punch at the froncourt for NU-Nazareth School.
“Yesterday, I just told Miguel good luck, just do what you gotta do and I told him go to sleep now because it was like 11 p.m.,” he joked.
Collin, not all-in just yet
Though absurd double-doubles like this were the norm for Akowe back from his days in a Bullpups uniform, it was equally impressive to see him replicate his dominance in the seniors ranks.
But according to him, the goal isn’t just to translate his stellar play to the bigger stage under brighter lights.
“I think there is a next level to that,” Akowe said. “I'm not satisfied, I'm not pleased, I think I can do more.”
Good thing then that since his arrival in España, UST has been hard at work trying to build chemistry with its new 6-foot-10 center.
“We've been trying to do the chemistry since Korea (training camp). I'm just going to stick to the system, whatever it is, whatever defense they bring, I'm just going to stick to the system,” he said.
And aside from working on his integration to the Growling Tigers, Akowe has also been in the gym doing personal work, preparing for when the opponents start clogging the paint.
“Now, I think I can work from outside, I think you can see, I get the ball outside, do my thing. Everybody gets to touch the ball, that's what the coaches say,” he said.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
