Back on July 21, Kemark Carino made a shock move to forgo his remaining years in San Beda University to go pro in the B.League.
Being just 23 years old, the 6-foot-8 big man out of Mangatarem, Pangasinan still had two years of eligibility left.
But for Carino, he needed to make a life-changing decision to turn pro with B2 team Aomori Wat’s. After all, he is the breadwinner of his family.
“The main reason po na inaccept ko po ‘yung offer ng Japan is siyempre malaking tulong po talaga ito para sa family ko.
“At siyempre po iba rin po ‘yung experince na makukuha ko in playing sa B.League to improve din po sa skills na matutunan ko for my basketball career,” Carino shared to Tiebreaker Times.
Carino is the youngest of three siblings, while his dad is a farmer in Pagsanjan.
Playing overseas was his way of helping out his family.
Still, Carino will always cherish the time he spent with San Beda — the school that helped lift him up after he left Ateneo in 2016.
“I’m really thankful po talaga sa San Beda dahil dito po talaga nag-start yung career ko. I wouldn’t be able to play for Gilas and hindi naman po ako makakapaglaro overseas without the help of San Beda sa career ko,” he said.
“Kaya kahit saan naman po ako mapunta dala dala ko pa rin po yung puso ng pagiging Red Lion.”
In Japan, much will be asked from Carino as it is coming off a last-place finish.
Carino knows that there will be a lot of pressure once he steps foot in the B.League. But for him, he is also looking forward to growing as a player there as well.
Photo by FIBA.basketball
“My goals po in playing for Wat’s is siyempre po to give them my best to win games po. At alam ko pong marami po akong matututunan sa team,” he said.
“Siyempre po I have to prove that they did not make a mistake for hiring me to play for their team.”
