Filipino fans only got to know Dwight Ramos during his Gilas debut during the 2020 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. But for the Filipino community in California, the 6-foot-5 winger is a star.
In fact, the kids there look up to him. Just ask 16-year-old Jacob Bayla.
Photo by FIBA.basketball
“Dwight Ramos’ place is 30 minutes from where I live,” said Bayla.
“So just seeing him go from Fullerton to here and making a name for himself just really inspired me.”
Growing up, Bayla studied in Valley Christian which is just 16 minutes away from Cal State Fullerton.
Then an 11-year-old Bayla would watch the games of Ramos with the Titans and, later on, with the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos.
Since then, Ramos was part of the fabled Gilas team of 2021 that swept the Qualifiers and put up a brave stand in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament-Belgrade.
Five years after getting to watch Ramos, Bayla gets a chance to create history as he is part of the Gilas Youth team that will compete in the 2022 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship.
Bayla, along with Zain Mahmood and Jayden Jones, arrived in the country last month just in time for the tryouts.
But it’s not just those three who he got close with as the entire team formed a bond during the month-long preparation of the team under the watch of head coach Josh Reyes.
And this included a team-building session in Pampanga that was said to be “epic”.
“My teammates, I love them. We built a really close bond.
“I feel like our chemistry is better, especially the karaoke sessions with the team, it just helped us bond. Just talking them —I understand a little bit of Tagalog—they make jokes and I start laughing. Our chemistry is really good,” he said.
Chemistry will be huge for Gilas Youth as they take on Asia’s best in the continental meet.
In the first round alone, they will face Japan and Kuwait.
For Bayla, being part of Gilas is both an opportunity and a responsibility.
“It’s definitely an honor and blessing from God because you never know what opportunity will come to your table. So you just gotta take advantage of it and just play your heart out,” he said.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to play internationally. You got a lot of eyes on you and I feel like it’s gonna raise my stock and everybody else’s stock because they see you playing for the international team. That’s just a really big thing here and worldwide.”
