Almost every student-athlete who wanted to play for the Far Eastern University Tamaraws wanted to be like Arwind Santos.
Santos, one of the finest student-athletes to ever grace the UAAP, had a successful collegiate career. During his stay in Morayta, the perpetual King Tamaraw led the school to three straight championships. Moreover, he is only one of two former Tamaraws to have his jersey retired by the school.
One of the players he inspired is Gilas cadet Russel Escoto.
Escoto was able to recover from an injury-plagued career in FEU, helping lead the Tamaraws to their first UAAP crown in 10 years a season ago. And on Sunday, his dream of reaching the pinnacle of Philippine basketball comes into fruition as the stretch big man is set to be drafted by the Mahindra Enforcers in the special Gilas draft.
“Excited ako. Siyempre kinakabahan din. More on excitement,” the 23 year old shared. “Makakapag-practice na ako with them, kung sino man kukuwa sa akin, exciting. Lahat ng player magaling, elite.”
The 6-foot-6 forward can guard and play three positions – a style perfected by 2013 PBA MVP Arwind Santos. Up until this day, he still looks back to the time he first met Santos with wonder.
“Napanood ko na siya nung pag dating ng FEU, may binigay na CD samin, tapos sinabi ko ito ang idol ko,” shared Escoto, who actually married the sister of Santos’ wife a few years later.
He then shared that what made him idolize the FEU great was how simple but effective his game is.
“Sobrang effective ng laro niya. Piso piso lang walang ano e, walang extravagant na moves, basic lang,” he said Friday afternoon during the 2016 SLAM Draft Suite.
And he plans to develop his game better to achieve the same longevity Santos has had in the big league.
“Ang target ko, maging tres sa laro, small forward. Yun ang i-improve sa sarili ko, mas maraming advantage ang makukua ko,” the Pampanga-native vowed.
