Ace Basas, the NBTC’s 1st
ever All-Star Game MVP, looks back on some shining moments
by rick olivares
During the 2011-12 college
basketball season, this kid from Mapua, Ariel “Ace” Basas, overcame a difficult
season where he played third fiddle to his more ballyhooed teammates JJ
Alejandro and Ian Valdez. The former was recruited by National University while
the latter was taken in by the University of the East. Basas, much to his surprise, received
an invite to the inaugural National Basketball Training Center High School
All-Star Game. Basas wasn’t even recruited by his own college team, the
Cardinals. The quandary now was just to go to college and if possible still
play some basketball, the game he dearly loved.
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| NBTC ASG MVP! |
During the All-Star Game held at
the Ynares Center in Pasig, Basas outplayed the likes of Jeron Teng, ThomasTorres, Francis Abarcar, Daryl Nazareno, Jun Bonsubre, Van Abatayo, and manyothers to come away with the first ever NBTC All-Star Game Award. It was a
Jeremy Lin moment for Basas who compiled 24 points, seven rebounds, one assist,
and one block shot.
I was in my second year handling
the media chores for the NBTC and I came over to interview the kid. I asked him
if he was moving up to the senior Cardinals’ ranks. Much to my surprise, he
said that no one even invited him for a tryout. I asked him, what school he
wanted to go to and boy was I in for a bigger surprise… Ace said – and I
remember the words exactly like it was only yesterday – “my dream school is
Ateneo.”
“Even if I do not make it to the
UAAP team, I want to study and to graduate there.”
I immediately pulled him around
the corner and called Mozzy Ravena who I had known since my college days and
told her about what Ace told me. With Kiefer still in the college ranks and
Thirdy coming up from the Blue Eaglets, maybe they could do something. While I
was talking to Mozzy, several coaches and recruiters spoke to Ace’s father to
secure his services. I couldn’t really recruit because I wasn’t a part of the
Ateneo program. Furthermore, I am in media. While I have sent a few players to
UP, Letran, and UE, I preferred to stay in the background and write rather be
an agent or recruit.
As Ace said it, “Even if all of a
sudden there were other offers, the moment Sir Rick made the connection to go
to Loyola Heights, I made up my mind – that’s where I am going.”
Ace made it to Ateneo’s Team B
where he would go on to be a part of a Fr. Martin’s Cup champion team. However,
he wasn’t overly happy because his minutes were inconsistent. “I was happy for
the school, my teammates, but I wasn’t happy with myself. I knew that I could
do more but minutes were hard to come by especially the following season when a
bunch of more recruits and Fil-Ams came in.”
Two years later, he was cut and
Basas felt devastated. Even while on Team B, sitting on the bench, he saw
former colleagues and foes get playing time. “Some of them I used to shut down
defensively or even score on,” he thought. It took him a month to get over it.
His father though was
disappointed and he wanted his son to transfer schools in order to chase his
basketball dream. Ace never considered moving. “Not even for one second. I went
back to what I said on that day Sir Rick spoke to me and I said that even if I
couldn’t play in the UAAP, I’d like to pursue my education and graduate from
Ateneo.”
While Basas has mostly coped, it
has, of course, not been easy. He’s seen the dreams of other Team B teammates
crushed – John Boo, Joma Adornado, Mikey Cabahug….. while he’s seen other
former teammates like JJ Alejandro win a UAAP title while others get loads of
playing time.
He feels bad that all the other
players who won the NBTC All-Star Game MVP Award are playing if not leading
their teams to championships and title games. Rey Nambatac, the second
recipient, led Letran to a NCAA championship. Thirdy Ravena and Mike Nieto, the
next two winners, towed Ateneo to a UAAP championship berth last season. And
the most recent winner of the award, San Beda’s Evan Nelle, has helped his side
to a smattering of high school championships. “I am the only one who isn’t
playing now,” he sadly says.
Every March and it is that time
of the year now, when the now annual SM-NBTC National High School Championships
and the All-Star Game get underway, Basas revisits his brief shining moment.
There’s still some hurt in there but he doesn’t dwell on it. “Playing for my
high school coach Randy Alcantara, he taught me how to carry and to pick myself
up. Looking back at it now, that also prepared me for the disappointments and
challenges.”
“When you look at the other side,
all through my high school and college life, my father never had to pay for one
centavo of tuition,” Basas brightens up. “If you calculate that, it translates
into more than a million pesos and that’s a lot. Imagine what we’ve saved and
what we’ve been allowed to have. It’s a blessing. And now I got a very good
education.”
“I realize that the Lord through
the years really prepared me to pursue something else. I do know that not
everyone makes it to the top which is the PBA. There are many college
superstars who don’t do well. So I appreciate the fact that the importance of
an education has always been instilled in my heart and mind. I remember when I
first came to Ateneo, Fr. Nemy Que, S.J. (who was then the head of the school’s
admission and aid) would always tell me never to neglect my studies no matter
what and that I would be thankful one day. And I remember that and am thankful
to him for that. And that day is arriving because in a few short weeks, I will
be graduating.”
“As for basketball,” sums up Basas. “I still play in the
Ateneo Basketball League. I kid around with my old Team B teammates that we can
score on so-so, and we can shut down so-so. We laugh and well, feel bad, but we
move on. Besides, I will always have that moment five years ago. And it’s a
nice moment and a memory for me.”
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| Ace's graduation photo. |
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