UST Tigers' Duncil to join PBA draft

Jojo Duncil, the 24-year-old who led the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers to an improbable Cinderella finish at the UAAP last year, has decided to forego his final year of eligibility to the collegiate league to join the coming Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) draft. The crafty, six-foot shooting guard got the blessings of school officials and his coach, Pido Jarencio, after a long talk on Friday. "It would not stand in the way of his progress. It is his and his family's decision," Jarencio said in a statement on Friday. "He already served his school well, and with that we are grateful. It's time for us, as his guardians here (at UST), to support him in his career move." A native of Apalit town in Pampanga, Duncil, who won the Finals MVP last season when the Tigers upset the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 2-1, in the title series, was also a vital cog of the Harbour Centre team that won the PBL Unity Cup recently. His contract with the Batang Pier will expire at the end of this month. "I want to play against the best, and it is at this stage of my career where I feel that I can do that," Duncil, who is the second blue-chip player to skip this year's UAAP after Adamson's Ken Bono, said in Filipino. "I am very thankful for UST officials for giving me their blessings." The PBA draft is set for the second week of August, and Duncil is expected to be rated high in the order. Duncil attended practice at the UST gym on Friday to bid teammates farewell and wish them the best in their title defense, which starts Saturday next week. Bono, the burly 6'-5" center who has a soft, accurate touch from the outside, is also reportedly set to enlist in the pool, which could go down as one of the richest in recent years. - GMANews.TV