Two of the top universities in UAAP men’s basketball have made it clear — they will not pursue Veejay Pre until he decides to leave Far Eastern University.
Representatives from both University of the Philippines and De La Salle University informed FEU athletics director Mark Molina on Thursday afternoon that they have no plans of recruiting last season’s Rookie of the Year while talks between the school and Pre’s family are still ongoing.
Green Archers boosters Raffy Villavicencio and Terry Capistrano made the same commitment to FEU trustee Anton Montinola on Wednesday evening.
Multiple sources monitoring the situation also revealed that Fighting Maroons officials expressed a similar stance to Montinola.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
On Thursday, Molina finally broke his silence about Pre’s situation following reports that the Pre family had informed FEU of the 19-year-old forward’s intention to leave.
While Molina confirmed the development, he clarified that Veejay himself has yet to personally bid the school goodbye.
“If you wanted to leave FEU, walang problema, Veejay — because that’s your desire,” Molina said, recalling his conversation with Veejay. “We will not stop anyone who doesn’t want to play for FEU. A lot of players have already left, and we respect that.
“But as long as you’re telling me you want to stay with FEU — me as the athletic director, Coach Sean (Chambers) as our head coach, and Coach Denok (Miranda) as our program director (who’s very close to you) — we will do everything in our power to keep you here. Because that’s what you want. And that has always been our stand.”
Earlier reports suggested that La Salle and UP were the frontrunners to land the services of the 6-foot-5 forward.
But that won’t be happening.
For now, the ball remains in Veejay Pre’s court — whether he stays or goes.
