JARED Bahay knew exactly what was expected of him in his sophomore year in Ateneo.
Though he proudly carried that weight, the Cebuano guard just could not shoulder the load by himself - literally.
A right shoulder injury hampered the lead playmaker in the middle of UAAP Season 88 and he hasn't been the same since that game at the Blue Eagle Gym, with many citing that as the start of the Katipunan side's downward spiral.
Remember, the blue-and-white went on a sizzling 4-0 start before fizzling out and dropping eight of its next 10 games.
But Bahay refuses to see it that way, believing that, "Our team has that next man up mentality, so I don't want to think that as the reason. I always think that no matter what happens, resiliency is always the answer."
What he'd like to trust, though, is that Ateneo learned valuable lessons from this campaign, especially as it relied on one-and-dones Kymani Ladi and Dom Escobar.
Those figures, together with graduating forward Josh Lazaro, will no longer be in blue-and-white come next year.
And the grind for Season 89 begins now.
"We'll be back better for Season 89. Ako personally, I want to be better, stronger kasama na rin sa shoulder," he quipped.
Magis Eagles to Blue Eagles
Working in Bahay's favor is the imminent reunion with his Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu teammate Jelomar Rota who is set to debut next season.
Still, the 5-foot-9 guard will be the first to remind Rota that it will take time for them to translate their success in the high school ranks in the Queen City of the South to the UAAP.
"Yes, we have the familiarity, but Jelo still needs that experience since he's coming in as a rookie," he said. "Pero kami naman ni Jelo, we talk about it and I know he's gonna have a good performance next year and he's gonna help us a lot."
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