AFTER A stellar UAAP Season 87 campaign, UST Tiger Cubs captain Nickson Cabañero has transferred to Colegio de San Juan de Letran because of problems related to his studies.
The younger brother of Growling Tiger star Nic faced academic concerns over the previous academic year, prompting him to switch institutions.
“Confirmed na sa Letran… hindi [siya] masyadong nakakapag-training sa amin dahil nasa Gilas siya at mukhang may problema rin siya sa academics,” Tiger Cubs head coach Noli Mejos told The Flame on Monday, Aug. 25.
(It is confirmed that he is in Letran… he hasn’t been training much with us because of Gilas and it looks like he also has some academic problems.)
Cabañero confirmed his transfer to the Intramuros school in a separate text message to The Flame.
The tactician admitted that Cabañero’s dearture is a huge loss to the team.
“It’s a big loss to us since he is a leader, a scorer and one of the hardest-working players,” Mejos added.
The 16-year-old guard helped the Tiger Cubs secure a silver finish in the junior high school basketball division last season. He averaged 16.9 points, 9.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game to earn a Mythical Five nod.
Cabanero ended his UST stint with a suspension that sidelined him in Game 3 of the finals against UE Junior Red Warriors. He was ejected for hitting UE’s Neil Garcia in the opening frame of Game 2.
Despite the exit of a key player, Mejos gave an assurance that the Tiger Cubs have new talents to fill the gap left by Cabañero.
“Still, we’ve managed to recruit new players to fill the gap,” he said.
Cabañero was also part of the Gilas Pilipinas Under-16 team that won the Southeast Asia Basketball Association (SEABA) U-16 Championship last May. F – Sophia Carmela dela Cuesta with reports from Rishna Joy Maglinao
