Ever since he was a young dreamer in California, Maverick Ahanmisi had one dream.
“I’ve dreamed of as a kid to represent the country,” the now-27 year old shared.
Now, the dream has become a reality as the third-year pro is part of the Gilas Pilipinas team that is bound for the 2018 Asian Games.
“Now that I’m here, definitely gonna take the chance to not let this opportunity slip.”
The 6-foot-2 floor general is reportedly a shoo-in for the team that is seeking to up the seventh-finish of the national team back in 2014. Joining him are Ahanmisi’s some of his current and former teammates in Rain or Shine Chris Tiu, Gabe Norwood, James Yap, Raymond Almazan, Beau Belga, Paul Lee, and former mentor Yeng Guiao.
Being just a junior, Ahanmisi is planning to follow his seniors’ lead in this process.
“It’s a team sport obviously and it’s my first time representing the country and there’s a lot of vets here Paul, Gabe, you know James, Beau, and so,” shared Ahanmisi.
“I’m just gonna follow their lead and do what I can to help the team try to win whether that be making wide open shots, giving assists, diving on loose balls whatever I could do to try to help the team win.”
More importantly, he sees it as an experience he will cherish with his friends.
“I think all of us Rain or Shine players missed Coach Yeng even Coach Caloy [Garcia] you can see their camaraderie together, real loyal to one another. I think the chemistry is already there, it’s been fun and it’s gonna be a fun experience.”
But Ahanmisi could not help but be in cloud nine as he is now living his dream.
“Man, I’ve definitely dreamed about it that’s for sure like I said I always wanted to do this as a kid, growing up, especially coming out here and playing in the PBA,” the Filipino-Nigerian expressed. “That’s something I really wanted to do and now that I have the opportunity I’m just happy that you know I was chosen as one of the selected few to get to represent the country.
“So I’m real humbled, I’m gonna wear this jersey in my chest and hopefully represent country well.”
