If there’s one person in Ateneo High School who knows Kai Sotto so well, that has to be Reggie Varilla.
Ever since the 7-foot-2 prodigy started in the Ateneo around 2017, up until he played his last game for the Blue Eaglets in the recently-concluded National Basketball Traning Center National Finals, Varilla was there by his side.
“When he first played for Ateneo dun siya sa team ko muna, when I was handling the development team,” he said.
“Yung unang time na nagsuot siya ng Ateneo jersey and last time na nagsuot siya ng Ateneo jersey, kami yung magkasama.”
And when the Sotto camp had a press conference care of Chooks-to-Go on Tuesday evening that circled on his decision to go abroad and chase his NBA dream, Varilla was there, along with the 16-year-old’s fellow Blue Eaglets.
Varilla admitted that he’s going to miss the second-generation star as he departs overseas, but he’s nonetheless happy.
“Happy kami na natulungan namin siya to develop this early,” he said. “Siyempre medyo sad din ng onti dahil mamimiss namin siya — just the same way na mamimiss namin sina Geo Chiu, sina Jed Diaz, sina Daniel David.
“But every year naman ganun. That’s high school basketball for you.”
Under Varilla, Sotto became the UAAP Season 81 Juniors Most Valuable Player. Asked if he feels that he has done enough to help the Batang Gilas Pilipinas cornerstone develop more as a player, Varilla could only hope so.
“I am not a fortune teller but we certainly hope so,” Varilla said. “We’ll keep praying for him na sana mas madevelop pa siya sa ibang bansa
Now that Sotto is about to leave soon, Varilla only has a few advices. “Ang lagi ko sinasabi sa kanya is if you have a dream, chase it for your own reasons, not for anyone else. It won’t be easy. May araw na masaya, may araw na mahirap,” he expressed.
“Ang isipin mo lang we’re all here, we’re praying for you. Don’t be pressured. Don’t play for us. Play for yourself. Yun lagi ko sinasabi.”
