ATENEO is trying to pick up the pieces from the sudden departure of Mason Amos for - of all schools - La Salle, in a dramatic pre-UAAP basketball tournament move that rattled the Loyola campus, shook member schools with its far-ranging implications and made the coming season a super interesting affair.
The 19-year-old, Ateneo's once prized recruit, had so infuriated the Blue Eagle diehards that many reportedly deleted him on Instagram, unfriended him on Facebook and erased his number on their cell phones.
Some teammates though tried to understand the logic and the reason behind the shocking move, saying many factors played a role. His frontcourt buddy, Geo Chiu, said he understood what was going on and said Amos could not be blamed entirely for a decision that had personal and career considerations.
What those were, Chiu did not say. But he considers Amos as a younger brother and seems to say he remains a close friend of the player whose talent made many experts agree that he could be the country's next big basketball treasure.
He seems to have all the moves at such a young age that the 6-foot-7 caught the eye of Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone, who made him a member of the national team pool for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia.
“As a kuya, aside muna ‘yung pagiging teammate, as a brother, siyempre ako, as much as possible, I try to understand him na lang. Siyempre, he has his reasons for everything. Hindi mo masisisi ‘yung bata eh, kasi maraming factors,” Chiu told SPIN.ph.
“For me, alam ko he’s going through so much right now. Ako, bilang kuya, I just try to help him as much as I could with all the things he’s going through right now.”
READ: SJ Belangel writes a cryptic tweet after Amos transfer
Meanwhile, various social media posts from the ‘BEBOB,’ or the Blue Eagle Band of Brothers, echoed a common theme and message: ‘We few, we happy few.’
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And for someone who Chiu believes is ‘going through so much right now,’ he’ll still continue to be of help to Amos in any way he can.
Amos exit came ‘out of nowhere’
No one in the Ateneo camp seemed to have an inkling of what was to transpire. One of those caught unaware was Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin, who said he had no advance knowledge of what is now one of the school's most tragic athletic disasters.
Chiu, like his other teammates, were stunned by the news which he said "came out of nowhere."
“Pati ako mismo, medyo nagulat," he said. "Nasaktan ako eh. Medyo mabigat siya, actually. Nothing against naman the other school (La Salle) but like siyempre, kailangan ka ng team eh. ‘Di naman kailangan, siguro parang sobrang out of nowhere kasi nu’ng news eh kasi medyo mabigat pa rin.
“For me lang naman, I just try to understand him but at the same time, medyo mabigat din talaga.”
While Chiu didn’t specify the ‘factors’ that came to play in Amos’ decision to leave Ateneo, sources who requested anonimity told SPIN.ph that La Salle came in with a ‘tempting offer to transfer’ to the Green Archers even before Amos joined Ateneo last year.
It is easy to understand why Amos is the target of every school's recruiting program. He is the dream player to have and a nightmare to those having to play against him. He is young, he is athletic and, if properly coached, could be a terror on both ends of the court.
The power forward broke the norms of a typical big man’s game for the Blue Eagles. He had the UAAP’s second-best three-point conversion rate (42.86%) in his rookie campaign last year.
The Brisbane State High School alumnus also finished sixth in the league in free throw percentage (75.68%; 28 of 37) and ninth in three-pointers made (27 of 63; 1.8 per game).
No wonder, the Loyola campus is now drowning in tears after losing the one player it needed to reclaim the championship. Adding salt to injury, the guy had to choose the school that Ateneo hated the most.
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