Besides being the head coach of Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Bonnie Tan is also the team manager of NorthPort in the PBA.
Not only has he groomed a lot of collegiate players and turned them into pro PBA players but also seen a lot of players have short careers in the big league.
In this batch of Knights, there are five seniors that are entering the pros, namely Fran Yu, Brent Paraiso, King Caralipio, Louie Sangalang, and Tommy Olivario.
And Tan is reminding them that getting drafted is not even half of the journey. Staying in the league requires a lot of work.
“Like our other players na nasa PBA na ngayon, lagi kong sinasabi sa kanila na iyong access ay okay, pero once na nakapasok ka sa PBA, it’s all work,” said Tan as the likes of Jerrick Balanza, Bonbon Batiller, Larry Muyang, and Christian Balagasay are already in the PBA and working their way to gain permanent positions.
“You have to prove na you deserve to play in the PBA so alam nila iyan na hindi porke’t ma-draft sila o nandoon iyong mga kasama nila ay habambuhay.”
Work ethic though is not a problem for this batch of Knights.
King Caralipio, who was a second-stringer in past years, broke out, averaging 11.68 points, 8.95 rebounds, and 1.73 assists. In his final year, he was hailed as the Finals MVP and Mythical Team member.
Meanwhile, Louie Sangalang was the team’s rebounding demon, norming 7.75 rebounds and 10.9 points.
Brent Paraiso also played his best in his final year, putting up numbers of 11.4 points, 4.25 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.
Finally, Fran Yu is already a given, becoming of the ace floor generals in the NCAA over the last three seasons.
But the collegiate game is a different animal.
Now they are top dogs but in the pros, they are just regular joes.
And Tan hopes that they won’t forget everything he taught them.
“It’s up to them kung paano nila bibigyan ng magandang ending ang career nila.”
