Jack Animam continues to make history.
Coming off a stellar collegiate career that saw her play in National University and Shih Hsin University, the 6-foot-2 Bulacan-native will go pro in Europe as she has signed with Serbian team Radnički Kragujevac.
The signing is another historic feat by the trailblazing 22-year-old as she will be the first homegrown Filipino player to play in Europe.
“This is definitely the stepping stone for her to get to the WNBA,” said Imani McGee-Stafford, who is Animam’s mentor.
“Jack will be going to play in the top league in Serbia.”
“I’m just so happy and proud that I got this far. It’s so overwhelming right now and I’m just super excited,” expressed Animam.
“I can’t wait to go out there and play with them.“
There’s no argument that Animam is the best female basketball player in the country right now.
Photo by @h___c___w
During her collegiate career, she won six championships — five in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and one in Taiwan’s University Basketball Alliance.
Animam’s personal trophy collection already has the UAAP Season 80 Most Valuable Player trophy, UAAP Season 81 Finals MVP plum, four All-UAAP team citations, UAAP Season 78 Rookie of the Year, two Southeast Asian Games gold medals, and the first-ever PSA Ms. Basketball award.
“We hope that she brings it back to us. We hope that Jack will be there always to represent the flag and country,” said SBP Gilas Women’s program director Patrick Aquino.
“We hope that she succeeds and many will follow her in the future.”
She joins a storied club in Radnički.
Radnički is a sports club that also has teams in football, handball, and water polo.
Radnički’s women’s basketball team that was founded in 1967 plays in Serbia’s top-tier league, the First Women’s Basketball League of Serbia.
The team coached by Nenad Milovanović finished last season in eighth place out of 12 teams with a 7-15 slate.
The team plays in the 800-seater Gordana Goca Bogojević Hall in Kragujevac — Serbia’s fourth-largest city.
The Serbian league usually begins its season in September and ends in April.
