UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas continues to benefit with the magic touch of one Alfrancis Chua.
Collins Akowe is the latest proof to that as the Nigerian center committed to España on Monday largely thanks to the influence of the decorated executive.
READ: UST Tigers secure commitment of UAAP Juniors MVP Collins Akowe
“Malaking asset si Collins para sa UST. We know how much we lacked size in the past seasons, and now we’re getting a legitimate big man who we know we can bank on for the future,” he told Spin.ph.
The San Miguel sports director, who also serves as Special Assistant to the Rector for Sports in UST, played the most pivotal role in making the move happen, laying out what the future holds for Akowe if he chooses to become a Thomasian.
Of course, his resume speaks for itself.
Winning the UAAP Season 86 boys basketball MVP honors and Season 87 Best Foreign Student-Athlete awards, the 6-foot-10 beast was the man in the middle for National University-Nazareth School and was the fulcrum for the Bullpups maintaining their status as among the top high school teams in the league.
Everybody also witnessed that which made the arms race to secure his services to no longer be a surprise.
But in the end, Chua’s influence and his trust to the system being built by coach Pido Jarencio in their alma mater in UST made the difference.
The time for talking is now over though, and it’s up to Akowe to back up his reputation much to the expectation of the Growling Tigers’ braintrust.
“He knows he has to deliver. We have immense trust kay Collins and he said that he’s ready for the challenge din naman para makatulong sa UST,” said Chua.
Akowe is indeed a massive addition to the UST frontline which currently features emerging forward Gelo Crisostomo and homegrown rookie Koji Buenaflor, all of whom are determined to send off super seniors Nic Cabañero and Forthsky Padrigao on top all the more as the black-and-gold have yet to reach the UAAP pinnacle since 2006.
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