By: Jerod Orcullo
Title defended and legacy cemented, Paolo Medina now sets his sights on his passion after back-to-back golds in UAAP NBA2K tournament
After successfully defending his title and securing back-to-back gold medals in the UAAP NBA2K tournament, Paolo Medina now turns his attention to a different dream: pursuing his passion beyond the virtual hardwood.
Heading into Season 87, Ateneo de Manila University was pegged as the team to beat in NBA2K25, largely due to Medina’s championship run in the special exhibition event hosted on their home turf last August.
This year’s tournament introduced a team-based format, and Medina—now in his fourth year as a BS Information Technology Entrepreneurship student—joined forces with fellow Blue Eagles Luis Jovellanos and Justin Lagac. Both had also competed in the inaugural event.
Ateneo swept the group stage with a perfect 3-0 record, highlighted by Medina’s early clash with his former finals rival from De La Salle University, Keagan Yap. Medina came out on top once again, setting the tone for the Blue Eagles’ dominant run.
After La Salle was eliminated in the semifinals, Ateneo faced a formidable University of Santo Tomas team, which topped Group B. Their lineup featured strong contenders in Daemiel Argame and Eryx Delos Reyes.
Jovellanos opened the finals series with an electrifying 77-71 overtime victory over Argame. Medina then sealed the championship by defeating Delos Reyes, 69-59, in Game 2.
Compared to his solo win last year, the former Ateneo team manager admitted this title felt even more fulfilling thanks to the team effort.
“I feel like this feeling of winning is way more satisfying than it was last year knowing that I did it with the efforts of my team behind me, knowing that Luis came up clutch in Game 1 in that overtime thriller,” Medina told Tiebreaker Times following his title-clinching win.
“It really feels like we’ve been here before, and we have, but this time it’s different knowing that it really was a full effort from the whole team. The whole bootcamp we had this past week really really helped us for this championship run and I’m very very pleased with how this whole tournament, this whole experience really turned out.”
In fact, Medina made a major sacrifice to make the campaign possible.
He cut short a trip to Japan and flew back to the Philippines on May 6, expecting the tournament to start the following day. But upon arrival, Lagac informed him via text that the start date had been moved to May 13.
Although initially frustrated, the 24-year-old realized that the unexpected delay gave them more time to prepare—an advantage that ultimately proved decisive.
“We had bootcamp in Infina, thank you to Luis, shoutout to the Jovellanos family for that. But that whole bootcamp really helped drive our preparations heading into this tournament and I think our composure, our experience, and just everything that we’ve built for this past year has shown today,” he shared.
A Passion for Esports
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
An avid gamer himself, Medina revealed that esports is something he deeply enjoys. However, he doesn’t intend to pursue a professional career in competitive gaming.
Instead, he dreams of creating content and streaming, following in the footsteps of American YouTuber IShowSpeed.
“I don’t think I want to like compete gaming competitively, like professionally, but I do want to pursue like the content creation side, the livestreaming side of gaming because I think that’s something I really am passionate about,” he expressed.
“Hopefully, after I graduate, that’s something I’m able to do like consistently. I think that’s the hard part, is doing it consistently… hopefully that’s something I can pursue gaming-wise after UAAP Esports and I’m just very blessed that this opportunity has fallen onto me. I feel blessed man.”
The Future of Esports in the UAAP
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
With two successful seasons now in the books, the UAAP has yet to officially confirm whether esports will become a permanent fixture in the collegiate league.
For Medina, its inclusion is already a major win and a significant leap forward for gaming in the Philippines.
“I’ve always felt like esports, specially during COVID, I’ve always felt like esports was the perfect UAAP sport, so to see it right now, in its second year, with all of these people, with this big stage and this beautiful setup in Gateway, it’s stunning,” he said.
“It makes me excited for the evolution of UAAP Esports and just esports as a whole in our country, because I feel like gaming can really be a passion that someone can pursue if they wanted to.”
He added that with more tournaments like this, students are given new avenues to chase their passion—something that was previously unimaginable in the collegiate scene.
“With more tournaments like this, with the UAAP growing bigger and bigger, it gives more students that opportunity to compete, to take esports to another level, to make esports something that they pursue, something that they want to do when they grow old.”
Medina also expressed hope that future seasons would include more game titles, such as Tekken and Marvel Rivals, to diversify the competition and attract even more participants.
“I just expect esports to become bigger and bigger every year and I’m happy that the UAAP Esports is continuing to expand.”
#WATCH: “MEANS THE WORLD TO ME!” 🏆
Paolo Medina says the #UAAPSeason87 NBA2K crown hits different—sweeter than their inaugural win! 🎮
📹 @not_your_mvp /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/G290OCkvnw
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) May 19, 2025
