Laguna native Felix Apreku is the heart and soul of the Letran Knights.
Playing with the troika of Mark Cruz, Kevin Racal, and Rey Nambatac, Apreku was the clean-up guy for the Knights – consistently providing the intangibles throughout the season.
With Cruz and Racal heading off to the pros, Apreku did not ask for more touches from new Letran head coach Jeff Napa as he continues to be the energy guy for the Knights. Game in and game out, the Filipino-Ghanian goes up against centers who are at least five inches taller than him. Surprisingly, he always finds a way to grab the rebound.
“Si Felix, given na yun eh,” Napa said about the 6’2 forward.
“Sabi ko naman sa inyo siya yung pinaka outstanding dito talaga. Hindi sa offense eh, yung mga intangibles niya, yun ang hinahanap talaga ng team.”
In Letran’s game against the heavily-favored Arellano University Chiefs, Apreku battled against American student-athlete Dioncee Holts, the hulking Lervin Flores, and a string of Arellano big men. He was able to sneak past the tall Arellano frontline, finishing the game with a game-high 17 rebounds.
“Si Felix, sigurong mga ito, ginagaya nila yung effort ni Felix eh,” Napa said, as the Knights were able to keep pace with the Chiefs in the rebounding department. “Kaya rin nahahawa itong mga ito.”
“Iba yung effort ng bata talaga, wala akong masasabi dun kaya siguro itong mga ito nahahawa.”
The 24-year-old admitted that he had played inspired basketball last Thursday because of his special someone.
“Siguro ano, nag-double effort din ako ngayon. Tsaka inspired lang kasi dumating na yung inspirasyon ko,” Apreku gushed.
The undersized power forward added that his girlfriend had just arrived from Palawan and immediately went straight to the Filoil Flying V Centre.
However, Apreku turned serious when asked about the huge responsibility he has in his team.
“Kahit naman dati ganito ginagawa ko. Parang energy booster nila ako e. Hindi ako nagpapadala sa mga frustrations para yung energy hindi mawala kasi ako yung nagsisimula nung energy,” he closed.
“Gusto lang namin manalo ng manalo, parang last year, hindi pa namin iniisip yung championship.”
