NOW that his junior basketball days are over, University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) 78th season junior basketball Most Valuable Player Aljun Melecio is set to reunite with National Collegiate Athletic Association senior basketball champion coach Aldin Ayo.
Both Melecio and Ayo were discovered by the JrNBA Presented by Alaska annual search for the best basketball talent in the country. At the end of the 2012 National Training Camp, Melecio was named MVP while Ayo was selected Coach of the Year.
They will be reunited when Melecio joins the La Salle University Green Archers.
Ayo, after transferring from the Letran Knights, wants Melecio to be a member of the Green Archers.
Ayo is working on having a well-balanced and well-rounded team just like the Letran Knights which won the 91st National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball crown.
Ayo said he has always kept an eye out for Melecio, who has shown vast improvement after playing in the UAAP junior cagefest. He has watched him play, and has seen how Melecio has improved over the last four years.
“Maraming papahirapan iyan. In four years, ang laki ng improvement,” said Ayo last December when he received the coach of the year award in the Collegiate Basketball Awards presented by the UAAP-NCAA Press Corps and Smart Sports at the Saisaki-Kamayan restaurant in EDSA.
The 17-year-old Melecio first caught the eye of Ayo when the youth joined the JrNBA Presented by Alaska camp four years ago.
The shifty point guard, a product of Lourdes School Mandaluyong, has gone places afterwards.
Melecio ended the 78th UAAP junior cage season with a bang as he snatched MVP honors from National University big man Justine Baltazar.
He averaged 22.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals for Junior Archers, who eventually lost the crown to the NU Bullpups.
As he enters the Green Archers’ den, Melecio feels that a different ballgame awaits him.
“Kailangan ko bigyan si Coach Aldin ng quality minutes para masanay rin ako at makacontribute sa La Salle,” said Melecio.
The Green Archers, according to Ayo, is getting strong under the boards, and speedier with the new and old players who have joined the practices in preparation for UAAP Season 79.
Graduating players Jeron Teng, Thomas Torres, Julian Sargent and Jason Perkins have reported back to practice since Ayo replaced Juno Sauler.
And they are looking forward to bringing the Green Archers to the finals, and a better finish before they leave the collegiate ranks.
To date, Ayo has assembled a 17-man pool, which also includes the come-backing Ben Mbala, Abu Tratter, Andrew Langston, Enzo Navarro, Prince Rivero, Amiel Joson, Joshua Torralba, Andrei Caracut, Daryl Pascual, Jollo Go, Thomas Torres, Larry Muyang and John Gob.
He will add La Salle Greenhills cager Ricci Rivero another product of JrNBA Presented by Alaska. Both Melecio and Rivero have committed to playing for the team after having a word with team manager and patron Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr.
