UNIVERSITY of Sto. Tomas’ men’s basketball rebuild got a huge boost in size and talent through 6-foot-6 Gilas Youth big man Zain Mahmood, who will be eligible come UAAP Season 87 later this year.
Mahmood’s high-profile addition to the Growling Tigers was confirmed on Wednesday morning by UST’s official student publication The Varsitarian, which also bared another soon-to-be-named top recruit is in the ‘final stages’ of making the move to España.
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National team experience has been limited yet valuable for the 18-year-old Fil-Canadian ace, whose lone Gilas Youth stint came in the 2022 Fiba U-18 Asian Championship. He played high school ball at Maranatha High School in California.
Mahmood & Co. bagged sixth place in the 10-team field with a 4-2 (win-loss) card, where he posted averages of 11.3 points and 5.8 boards.
Following Mahmood’s memorable Gilas Youth debut, his next call of duty will be to help lift the España side from what has been a UAAP season to forget.
UST’s two-win campaign in Season 86 was made more difficult by the midseason exit of Senegalese center Adama Faye, who hardly had game time under his belt with a recurring back injury.
Not only will Mahmood fill the shoes left by Faye, but he’ll soon usher in a new era of UST basketball alongside former Ateneo ace Forthsky Padrigao, ex-UE standout Kyle Paranada, former UP guard Ashon Andrews and Fil-American duo of Geremy Robinson and Leland Estacio.
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