During the first practice of Mighty Sports Philippines in preparation for the 2019 Dubai International Basketball Tournament, head coach Charles Tiu could not help but be in awe of Jeremiah Gray.
“He’s super athletic. I know he can bring a lot to us,” the youthful mentor shared, Wednesday evening.
It’s clear that Gray has grown by leaps and bounds from three years ago.
During the summer of 2016, Gray returned to his motherland, pondering where he would continue his collegiate studies. The 6-foot-5 floor general was just coming off a two-year stay in Moorepark College that saw him make the All-Western State Conference First Team selection twice.
Gray then decided to go to Division II school Dominican College, as he felt that it would be of great help to his development to play overseas.
“The two biggest schools were of course Ateneo and La Salle.
“The reason why I chose to go back to the States was because I feel like back there, there’s better competition and I actually got to grow stronger. And also I already got two years of college in the States and I only got two years left to get my degree, so I figured that was the best choice for me,” he recalled.
His stay at Dominican College proved fruitful, since he ended up breaking the school’s single-season scoring record with 509 points. Gray ended up averaging 18.9 points per game on 42 percent shooting and 33.8 percent from three-point range in his final year.
More importantly, he was able to finish with a degree in Business Administration.
Right after college, he immediately turned pro. Grey went first to Thailand to play in the TBL and, later on, to Luxembourg to play for BBC Sparta Bertrange.
“It was actually really good for me. I grew a lot as a player. I got some things I got to work on and things I had to get better at,” the now-23 year old shared.
But at the end of the day, home is where the heart is. And when Mighty Sports called up, he quickly packed his bags to join the Philippine team.
“Playing for Mighty, representing the Philippines. Back where I belong. I’m actually really excited to go out there. I know we have some cool imports,” he expressed.
“Gonna learn from him and learn from the veterans we have on our team.”
When asked, Gray has no regrets with the path he chose.
Or perhaps, just a few.
“No regrets. Well, sometimes a little bit. I mean, seeing Ateneo win two championships,” he quipped.
“Sometimes, I think that maybe I should’ve come. But at the end of the day, I made my choice and I glad I made my choice.”
