THE PHILIPPINE Under-18 squad that will compete in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association Championships starting on Monday in Singapore will feature a key cog from the title-winning Cebu Eastern College Dragons squad of 2010 in the face of lefty wingman Mark Olayon.
Olayon, a Davao City-native who was a vital part of the revamped CEC squad that went from zeroes to heroes en route to winning the juniors championship in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. several years ago, was tabbed to join the RP team which aims to defend the title they won in 2010.
Olayon now plays for the University of the East Red Warriors and he will be joined on the team by several holdovers from the Energen Pilipinas Under-16 national squad. These are hotshots J-Jay Alejandro and Hubert Cani of the National University Bulldogs, Prince Rivero of La Salle, Isaac Go of Xavier School and Jay Javelosa. The team will once again be coached by former PBA great Olsen Racela.
Completing the team are Letran’s Rey Lambatac, big man Mario Bonleon of La Salle, Kent Lao of the University of Sto. Tomas, Kyle Suarez of the University of the Philippines, Jorem Morada of Emilio Aguinaldo College and Olayon’s teammate on UE, RR de Leon.
CEC team manager Sammy Sia, the man responsible for helping to recruit Olayon, met the news with surprise and happiness. “I’m really really happy to hear this news. Mark (Olayon) was a real hard-worker and I saw his potential early on,” said Sia.
Aside from the Philippines, also competing are Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Laos. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio