ADD a promising big man to University of Santo Tomas’ off-season recruitment binge.
Gilas Pilipinas Youth slotman Zain Mahmood formalized his entry to the Growling Tigers yesterday.
UST coach Pido Jarencio welcomed the Fil-Canadian to España, saying they caught a big fish going into the 87th UAAP basketball tournament.
“Hindi lang malaki si Mahmood, skilled din siya kaya napakalaking addition niya para sa program natin,” the fiery Jarencio said as he, together with Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA) director Fr. Rodel Cansancio, OP, and team manager Eric Ang, met their new recruit.
“Alam naman natin na iyong malalaki ang kulang sa atin last season, so maganda ang nakikita nating future para sa batang ito,” he added.
Mahmood, 19, is a 6-foot-7 center out of Maranatha High School in California who showed his wares for the national youth team in the 2022 FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship in Qatar where he normed 11.3 points and 5.8 rebounds in 24 minutes of action.
He also proved his worth for Fil-Nation Select in last year’s Smart-NBTC National Finals where he had 6.8 points and 3.6 boards in 14 minutes of play.
Also adding ceiling to UST is unheralded big man Brix Verzosa, 19, a 6-foot-10 center who was good for 3.1 points and 4.6 rebounds for the Tiger Cubs in the last UAAP juniors’ cage wars.
