IF University of Santo Tomas wants to better its encouraging Final Four run in the UAAP Season 87, Peter Osang will have to emerge as the Tigers’ rock-solid foundation in the middle.
It’s good that he’s coming in with a huge chip on his shoulders.
Missing out on making the line-up last season as Mo Tounkara took the lone spot for foreign student-athletes, the 6-7 big vows to play with a different kind of intensity this season knowing just how rare this opportunity is for him.
“I’m taking this personally,” Osang told SPIN.ph.
“I only get to play college basketball once in my life so I’m not gonna let this opportunity pass me by. I have to continue to work everyday. I have to lock in and hopefully we get to the finals this season.”
Three games into the Playtime Cares Filoil Ecooil Preseason Cup, it seems like Osang is finally getting his footing with the Growling Tigers.
Averaging just four points and seven boards in their first two games, the 20-year-old held his own against one of the best centers in the UAAP today in FEU’s Mo Konateh.
Osang played his best game so far with UST, finishing with 17 points on a 60 percent shooting clip alongside eight boards and two assists.
Even though he’s UST’s top option as the squad’s foreign student-athlete come next season, Osang isn’t taking it for granted.
Until he plays in an official UAAP game, he’s going to grind like he’s got a whole lot to prove.
“I wasn’t able to play last season so I took that as motivation,” he shared. “I kept on putting in the work. Working out. Just grinding and working on my craft in the hope of making the team next season.”
But Osang isn’t about to come in acting like UST’s savior. What he wants to do is to stick to his role, play it best and be that anchor for the Growling Tigress inside the paint.
“Just listening to my coaches’ instructions, doing what the coaches want me to do and playing for the team. Just doing the basic things, simple things that the coaches want me to do and it’s now showing in the game,” he said.
“I want to be known for my effort. I want to be known for my passion and my commitment to the UST community. I want to make everyone proud of me.”
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