King Maroon Jett Manuel is averaging career-highs in his final year of eligibility for the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons. Posting norms of 15.5 points on 48.2 percent shooting from the field and 81.8 percent shooting from the stripe, along with 4.2 rebounds, he has helped rejuvenate the Fighting Maroons basketball program.
But with it comes interest from professional club teams in the PBA.
Tiebreaker Times had broken the news that Jett Manuel was supposed to enter the 2016 PBA Draft. But UP’s ace guard and his manager Mel Macasaquit had to withdraw their application form two days prior to the deadline, as they were forced to make a choice: go pro or gut it out with UP.
Former UAAP stars like Don Allado and Terrence Romeo had been able to enter the draft after playing out their final year a few years back. But the drastic shift in the UAAP calendar has forced the student-athletes of the league to wait for a year before being drafted as the last month of the tournament coincides with the PBA’s annual festivity.
“Me and Mel had ideas that I could still play out the season, pero it came to a point that I was given a choice to either apply for the draft or finish my playing years with UP,” the 23-year-old shared after UP’s loss to the Far Eastern University on Saturday afternoon.
For the Isko, there was no hesitation,: he picked UP over his dream..
“I’m always gonna choose UP.”
“I owe a lot to this school. This school gave me the opportunity to play. It was an opportunity, but maybe God has better plans for me. I wanna finish out the season, do my best, win my games, and hopefully, do something great for my school,” he shared.
“It was actually easy in the sense that I knew what I wanted. I’m always gonna look at the opportunities that come my way, but in my heart, I knew that I wanted to finish what i came to do for UP. I don’t wanna leave my team hanging, I don’t want to leave the UP community hanging. I feel like I owe them for this opportunity that I have.
“It was a no-brainer.”
The Civil Engineering-graduate already has plans set after his playing days in the UAAP are over. The former Xavier Golden Stallion was not able to take his board exam scheduled this November due to the league. But he is dead set on reviewing and taking the examination next year.
“I wanna finish my boards. I sacrificed my board exams which i was supposed to take this November for CE. So I’m going take it in May. That’s what I’m gonna focus on muna,” he added.
And he is still going to chase his hoop dreams as well.
“Basketball-wise, I’m always going try to play for the Gilas team. It’s been my dream ever since,” the 6’2 guard admitted.
“If I get the opportunity, why not?”
