AS small as the Philippine basketball community is, it's a rarity to see PBA players impart their knowledge to the current collegiate stars.
That gap is what the GOAT Academy wants to bridge as it aims to help the present superstars pay it forward to the next ones in line.
"Who can you learn more from than the guys who actually do it on a daily basis?," said founder Mikee Reyes.
"So many players are reaching out to the PBA guys to get tips, to help them out or work out with them, and teach them a thing or two, but there was never an avenue that they can actually make it happen."
NLEX guard Kiefer Ravena, Alaska veteran JVee Casio, and the Meralco duo of Chris Newsome and Ranidel de Ocampo were kind enough to share their knowledge to some of the top college stars on the land in the first GOAT Amateur Invitationals last Saturday at Phenom Sports Center in Makati.
"It's one way of giving back," said Ravena, who over the past years has taken select stars under his wing. "It's the cream of the crop of the collegiate players and it's a rare opportunity for us to share some knowledge and hopefully, instill some things to them."
De Ocampo agreed, saying: "Masaya magturo sa mga bata. Hahasain mo na lang sila ng konti, i-upgrade mo na lang. Proud tayo na makapag-share sa kanila yung natutunan natin sa buhay at basketball, yung experience ko dito at sa international."
It's a culmination of a dream which Reyes had, linking the collegiate standouts to the PBA stars even before the younger ones make the jump to the pros.
"Ever since Robert Bolick said in an interview that he would love to work with LA Tenorio, and Fran Yu reached out to Chris Ross, why doesn't it happen? Why can't we make it happen? Why can't we have a platform or an avenue that they can see each other, they can meet up and they can do something and help each other? Why not try it out. let's see where it takes us and then from there we'll see where it goes?," he wondered.
It turns out, the old adage was true: Build it and they will come.
Upstarts like University of Santo Tomas' CJ Cansino, Mark Nonoy, and Rhenz Abando, Far Eastern University's L-Jay Gonzales and Ken Tuffin, and La Salle's Evan Nelle and Jordan Bartlett all came and were all ears as they tried to pick the brains of their PBA idols.
"Exciting kasi alam ko na marami akong matutunan galing sa kanila," said Cansino.
But it's not just a one-time thing, with Reyes planning to hold a number of these pros-to-amateur sessions before eventually opening it to the public.
"You see the PBA players are excited and the college kids are enjoying themselves. From here, I believe other college players would want to be a part of GOAT and also other PBA players would want to teach here as well," he said.
"I'm gonna try to help the juniors players, the women's division, and then also, the kids who are aspiring to work out with the PBA players or even the college superstars. Eventually, it will be open to the public and we're gonna accept applicants who would want to work out with the likes of Chris Newsome and the like."
Training camps, led by Blackwater guard Diego Dario and Zamboanga sniper Anton Asistio have already been set later this month.
So far, the feedback has been all positive.
Cansino, who had a chance to work closely with Newsome in the session, was delighted with the tips he got.
"Ang pinakagusto ko kapag may nakakalimutan ako na kahit konting detalye, nire-remind niya agad at tinuturo niya rin yung mga konting gulang," he said.
So was the case for the mentors, with Ravena expressing his delight to also deconstruct the younger players' games.
"May natututunan din ako sa kanila. It's a learning process for the both of us. It's a way of sharing your talents that was blessed to us by the Lord and it's our duty to share it to the future of Philippine basketball. Hopefully, it can continue and more players come in," he said. "Siguro, way ko lang din ito na sabihin sa kanila na mag-ready sila pagdating sa PBA."
And it's really all what the GOAT Academy is all about.
"Everyone has a chance to be the greatest of all time -- the GOAT," Reyes said. "So all of these players right now, they have a chance of being the GOATs in what they do. So we bring GOATs to teach GOATs."
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