PHILIPPINE sports at large went into mourning when two Ateneans in Agusan del Sur-born-and-bred rookie Rene Baterbonia and foreign student-athlete Divine Adili tragically lost their lives during a team-buidling activity.
And while Baterbonia’s passing was a dispiriting setback to Mindanao's resurgent hoops culture, losing Adili meant the Blue Eagles - as well as Philippine basketball in general - just lost a lot of goodness inside their nest.
READ: Ateneo holds wake for Divine as fundraising continues to help Adili family
That was the sentiment of former one-and-done Ateneo swingman Dom Escobar, who had the honor of sharing the floor with the FSA in UAAP Season 88.
“It's devastating, very tragic. I'm still in disbelief, it's very fresh, kinda mentally out of it,” he said before suiting up for Caloocan in its duel with San Juan last Wednesday.
Before tip-off, the gone-too-soon Blue Eagles were remembered through a moment of silence, as several players wrote dedications for the two on their sneakers.
For Escobar, missing Adili all of a sudden went beyond the lone season they shared together, as though he knew he was on borrowed time in Katipunan, his Nigerian brother had a long collegiate career ahead of him.
“We were brothers, we did everything together. We were, me and Ky [Ladi], Divine, we were rookies coming into Ateneo, so we experienced a lot together and we did so much together,” he said.
“He was a great basketball player. He had so much life to live, and the future was very bright for him, so it's just tragic what happened to him.”
Divine presence
Alongside Adili’s promising play that amounted to 8.4 points and 8.4 rebounds during what ultimately became his first and last season in blue-and-white, the Lagos native was as much a force off the court as he was on it.
“He was a great kid to be around, very hard worker. Off the court, though, he had a great personality, always smiling, always joking around. It was easy to be around him and it was easy to like him,” Escobar said.
And as Escobar wishes he had relished teaming up with Adili a bit more, the Fil-Am vowed that not only will his supporters remember his play on the hardwood, but also the kind human he was beyond the lines.
As he put it, “He's gonna be very missed. And I'll make sure his legacy and his number and all his memories live on.”
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.
