BATANG Gilas Pilipinas hotshot Recaredo Christian Calimag has left the den of the San Beda Red Cubs.
The 16-year-old Calimag, who has been playing for Team B for sometime now, is now practicing with the La Salle-Zobel Junior Archers.
Coach Boris Aldeguer has accepted him into the team’s practice sessions last week, according to Calimag.
“Lumipat na po ako sa La Salle-Zobel. Kinuha po ako ni coach Boris. Last week pa po ako nagpa-practice sa kanila,” said Calimag.
The 6’1” Calimag, who is the son of former San Beda Red Lions cager and retired PBA player Ricky, made waves last month when he and his teammates led Batang Gilas to the 2017 Seaba Under-16 Championship.
In their final game, Calimag got 15 markers and five boards to contribute to Batang Gilas’ 83-62 victory over Malaysia.
In the coming UAAP junior basketball wars, Calimag will play against national teammates Kai Sotto and Terrence Fortea, who are with the Ateneo Blue Eaglets and the National University Bullpups, respectively.
At present, Calimag seems to have little or no chance of making it to the Red Cubs roster for the NCAA junior basketball season.
The roster of the present Red Cubs squad have stayed intact after they have made the finals over the last eight seasons, having won seven titles.
Calimag and his teammates will next see action in the 2017 FIBA Under-16 Asian Championship with Seaba runner-up Malaysia.
During the tournament held at the Araneta Coliseum, Calimag averaged 15.3 points, had a 35.3 percent three-point shooting clip to become the second-highest scoring cager.
With Calimag around, the Philippines went on to claim its fourth straight Seaba title.
The towering Sotto had 10 of his 15 points in the third quarter, to go with 12 rebounds, and four blocks, while Calimag got 15 markers and five boards, and Terrence Fortea had 15 points and three rebounds in the conquest. Peter Atencio
Cortez also added 13 markers and four boards, while Bismarck Lina chipped in 13 markers, 10 boards, and five assists.
Though he didn’t score as much, Forthsky Padrigao also made his imprint with his five points, 11 rebounds, six dimes, and two steals
Engaged in a tough battle from the get-go, Batang Gilas used a 24-6 run abridging the final two periods to turn a close 53-46 lead to a commanding 77-52 edge with 5:41 to play.
Teoh Yi Kang paced Malaysia with 19 points, three rebounds, and three assists.
Though settling for a silver medal, the Malaysians still earned a spot in the 2017 Fiba Asia U-16 Championship with the top two Southeast Asian teams booking seats to the continental tilt.