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Once teammates at Sacred Heart, Kristian Porter, Kurt Laput reunite at UST


When Kurt Laput committed to transferring to the University of Santo Tomas, he didn’t expect to find a familiar face waiting for him in his new home.

That familiar face turned out to be Kristian Porter — his former teammate at Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu — who had also made the move to UST just a few months earlier.

“Sobrang unexpected,” said Laput, who is two years older than Porter.

More than a decade ago, a young Laput left Ormoc, Leyte to pursue his basketball dreams in Cebu.

UCAL-Season-7-LPU-B-vs-MCU-Kurt-Laput Once teammates at Sacred Heart, Kristian Porter, Kurt Laput reunite at UST Basketball News UAAP UST  - philippine sports news
At SHS-Ateneo de Cebu, he formed strong bonds and shared the court with Porter, Nic Cabanero, Jared Bahay, Raffy Celis, and Michael Asoro.

Together, they collected titles in the Passerelle division and were poised to become the next golden generation for the Magis Eagles in CESAFI.

Sacred-Heart-batch-2019 Once teammates at Sacred Heart, Kristian Porter, Kurt Laput reunite at UST Basketball News UAAP UST  - philippine sports news

(C) Kristian Porter

But just as they were about to take center stage in the juniors division, the CESAFI tournament was cancelled for two straight years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Porter eventually moved to Manila in 2022 to join Ateneo de Manila University, while Laput relocated to Batangas to play college ball for Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas.

By a twist of fate, their paths would cross once again — not in Ateneo or Lyceum, but at UST.

UAAP87-MBB-KRIS-PORTER-2383 Once teammates at Sacred Heart, Kristian Porter, Kurt Laput reunite at UST Basketball News UAAP UST  - philippine sports news

(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team

“I mean, for sure it’s exciting. Matagal na kaming magkakilala ni Kurt, and we’ve been teammates for a while din,” said Porter, a two-time UAAP Boys’ Basketball Mythical Team member.

“But it’s been a long time since we last played together on the same court, so I’m excited to see the kind of player he’s become over the time we spent in our own separate schools. Super excited to be reunited with him and hopefully produce for Coach Pido and UST.”

Now reunited, Laput and Porter are looking to settle some unfinished business as they prepare to suit up for the Growling Tigers in UAAP Seasons 89 and 90.

#ReadMore  Subido repays coach's trust with career game

Before that, however, they have a crucial task ahead: rebuilding the chemistry they once had during their high school days.

“Syempre, nakakatuwa lang kasi sobrang unexpected talaga na magiging teammates ulit kami ni Budoy,” Laput shared.

“Sobrang excited din ako, at the same time, na makalaro at makakampi siya ulit dito sa UST this coming residency namin.”

Written By

Nissi Icasiano is a sportswriter, analyst and editor from the Philippines. He started his professional career in 2013. He has also written for various media outlets such as Rappler.com, ABS-CBN, Tiebreaker Times, Philboxing.com, MSN.com, South China Morning Post, The Phnom Penh Post and the International Business Times. In 2017, he started a career as a Combat Sports Analyst for television and radio, appearing on various news shows for ABS-CBN, GMA, TV5, Radyo Singko 92.3 News FM, PTV 4, Business World, Radyo Pilipinas 2 and Bombo Radyo Philippines. He practices boxing at Tiger City Boxing Gym whenever he is not writing.


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