Mapua's Lawrence Mangubat had to endure rejection, heartbreak, and self-doubt before carving his niche in the basketball circle.
"Naghintay lang ako talaga, inisip ko lang na may para sa akin talaga," Mangubat shared.
"Sipag lang at dasal at pasensiya kasi na-disiplina talaga ako coming from juniors to seniors. Juniors sobrang taba ko no’n."
[I had to wait, I had to think that this really for me... It takes hard work and prayer and patience. I had to develop discipline coming from the juniors to seniors. In the juniors, I had a lot of extra weight.]
A product of Cebu, the 20-year-old lefty sniper first tried out at University of Santo Tomas' juniors basketball team at the height of pandemic in 2022 upon an invitation to join the school's open tryout.
Mangubat, then a 17-year-old aspirant, trained with the Tiger Cubs for nearly three months, but hardly got the chance to showcase his true potential in any scrimmages.
He thought he had no place in España, prompting him to fly back to Cebu to further hone his skills which would eventually led him to Intramuros.
"Nawala ako sa isip kasi hindi ako makakalabas tapos walang liga doon tapos hindi pa ako pinapasali sa mga scrimmages kaya nakakababa ng morale kaya nakapag-isip talaga ako na sa Cebu muna. Kasi pag nag-stay ako mawawala ‘yung confidence ko sa game," Mangubat added.
"Nakapag-desisyon ako na umuwi muna akong Cebu, doon ako magpapa-develop."
[I was out of mind there because I couldn't go out and we didn't have leagues to play in. I wasn't able to join the scrimmages, so it really lowered my morale. I was thinking about going back to Cebu for a while. Because if I stayed, I would lose all my confidence in the game. I made the decision to go home to Cebu and develop there.]
The 5-foot-10 guard then had the chance to play in Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation (CESAFI) under the Cebu Institute Technology, where senior high school students are allowed to see action.
But his life changed when Mapua deputy Yong Garcia, a friend of his Cebu coach, recruited him to join the Red Robins in the NCAA juniors tournament.
"Sa CESAFI then sinubaybayan nila ako sa other leagues na nilalaruan ko tapos pinuntahan ako ni Coach Yong sa Cebu," Mangubat recalled.
"Kinonvince nila ako, maganda raw dito sa Mapua tapos magkakilala rin ‘yung Coach Edsel (Vallena) at Coach Yong kaya ayun, napalapit na rin ako kay Coach Yong."
[They saw me in the CESAFI then kept up with me in other leagues that I played in. Then Coach Yong visited me in Cebu. They convinced me that it was a good situation in Mapua and he knew Coach Edsel, so I got close to Coach Yong.]
From just an aspirant, Mangubat has now emerged as key piece for the Cardinals.
As a rookie, Mangubat took charge down the stretch to lift Mapua against the rallying Lyceum of the Philippines University, nailing the dagger triple to tow the team to a narrow 69-68 win---their fifth in a row to open the second round.
It may have taken him a while, but Mangubat's time has come and it's only just the beginning.
"Unang-una thank you kay Coach Yong kasi sa juniors ang laki ng tiwala niya sa akin eh tapos ‘yung coach ko sa Cebu and si Coach Randy [Alcantara], nilapitan niya na ako nun’ng juniors pa lang ako tapos napalapit na rin ‘yung puso ko sa kanila para mag-stay sa Cardinals."
[First of all, thank you to Coach Yong because from the juniors, he placed a lot of trust in me and he knew my coach in Cebu and Coach Randy, he approached me even when I was still in the juniors and so I trusted them to stay with the Cardinals.]
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
