BO Perasol is confident that wherever the basketball gods take Jun Manzo, the pint-sized guard will prove his worth like he did at University of the Philippines.
"With what he had shown, he's bound to make it in the PBA," said the Maroons coach.
Manzo seamlessly filled the hole left by seniors Paul Desiderio and Diego Dario as he stabilized a talented UP team this UAAP Season 82 following the arrival of Kobe Paras and Ricci Rivero.
In his final season in Diliman, the 5-foot-9 playmaker averaged 8.4 points on a 30-percent shooting from deep, to go with 4.0 assists (third-best in the league) and 3.5 rebounds.
Perasol admitted that Manzo is hardly a star. But just like what he was in their three years together at UP, the Cebuano guard will be a joy to coach in his next team.
"He's going to be a gem for the coach who is going to get him. He's not going to be the star right away, but he's gonna be a tremendous part of the team," he said.
The 22-year-old Manzo, meanwhile, is still weighing his options.
He's only played two games in the PBA D-League with Alberei, far from the prerequisite number of games needed to declare for the Rookie Draft.
That makes the MPBL the likely destination for Manzo.
"Di ko pa alam kasi kulang yung games ko sa D-League. Naka-dalawang games pa lang ako," he said. "If wala siguro, mag-MPBL muna ako and then, sa January na ako maglalaro sa D-League."
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.
