The growing exodus of players transferring from their alma maters has become a trend in the UAAP; Mike Gamboa (AHS), Martin Reyes (DLSZ), Socrates Rivera (FEU), and Kevin Juruena (AdU) are amongst a few who have sought other universities in search of fresh starts and playing time. With this however, come the implications of the UAAP’s residence rule. Meet two transferees willing to sacrifice one year of playing to be part of Team Ateneo.
GREGORY SLAUGHTER
“I want to be the best big man in the Philippines.”
Towering at a colossal six feet and eleven inches the Smart Gilas member, and former University of Visayas player (UV), arrives on Ateneo grounds, undoubtedly endowed with the physical makings to be the best big man in the nation.
Born Gregory William Slaughter on May 19, 1988, the half American, quarter Chinese and quarter Filipino has always had a vertical advantage over his opponents. At the age of 12, Slaughter was already standing at 6-feet. Then 3 years later, when he started playing basketball competitively, he hit another growth spurt hiking him to 6-feet-6.
In case anyone was in doubt of Slaughter’s talent, it should come as no surprise that he excels in basketball. When asked about his greatest strength, Slaughter simply says, “I’m seven feet tall!” However, he believes that consistency is where he feels the most need to improve his game.
Basketball has always been a part of Slaughter’s life, from growing up playing with his brothers and uncles, winning two straight championships with the UV Lancers in Cebu, to joining Smart Gilas. Slaughter, however, isn’t just all raw athletic talent, he scored in the top 10 percentile in the Ateneo College Entrance Exam—rumor has it that he scored higher than fellow Smart Gilas teammate and former Blue Eagles captain, Christ Tiu.
With Slaughter’s success playing for the UV Lancers, being the only player in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation’s eight-year history to be the season MVP, All-Star game MVP and Finals MVP, it begs the question: why sacrifice a year of playing to enroll in Ateneo?
With his priorities straight, Slaughter says, “I want to be able to commit with Gilas full time, [while also] getting my degree.”
“And I thought Ateneo would be the best choice in Manila to get a degree,” he adds.
As an athlete, Slaughter aims to improve on his game just as much as obtaining a degree in Economics, “I’m lucky to be with Smart Gilas and coach Rajko [Toroman], so I’m just trying to learn as much as possible from him [while] also taking the advantage of practicing with the imported big men Smart Gilas has hired.”
Sports and studies aside, Slaughter feels no different than anyone else. He enjoys playing video games as much as the average adolescent, and was actually quite fond of fencing before playing basketball.
While at first glance intimidating, Slaughter guarantees that his personality doesn’t reflect how he looks. He says, “I may be big and strict looking but I still act pretty childish at times and always laughing.” Though the Blue Eagles will have to wait a year for his services, sure enough, Ateneo couldn’t be more thrilled for his arrival.
AERIEAL PATNONGON
When an agonized Charo Soriano clutched her knee in this summer’s V-league, thoughts on who would replace the veteran resonated around the Ateneo camp. But, they didn’t have to look far for a competent replacement as Aerial Patnongon, a rookie relatively unknown to many, was ready to be unleashed.
After having fulfilled a year of residency, Patnongon, standing 5’10”, made her first ever appearance as a Lady Spiker. And she made more than a decent showing.
Patnongon’s arrival to the UAAP was hindered by league rules regarding her transfer from the University of Santo Thomas High School (USTHS). The residency rule states that players from UAAP member universities transferring to another UAAP member school are required to sit out a year. Foreign players have to sit out two years.
With no intent of playing volleyball, her flight to Ateneo began the day a certain Carmela Lopez, took notice of her height and chased her down on the way home, inviting her to try out for the team.
“I only learned [how to play competitive] volleyball in high school”, she says, “I played in elementary-level intramurals [but] that was it”.
Under high school coach Kung Fu Reyes, Patnongon went through four years of training, which consisted of jogging as much as 15 times around UST.
“Grabe”, she says, “sobrang pagod, pero worth it (It was very tiring, but it was all worth it)”.
When senior year came, Patnongon was forced her to make a decision as teams from the UAAP and the NCAA heavily scouted her for her skills and height. She narrowed her options to two schools: UST and Ateneo, ultimately choosing Ateneo.
She points out that academics was her priority, hoping to go to med school after finishing her degree in Psychology. “When I was in UST, I didn’t have much time to focus on my academics since training was so intense.”
“I wanted to find that balance between being a student and an athlete. [For me] being a student comes first”, she says.
Speaking of the differences between training in Ateneo and in USTHS she says, “Training for UST’s junior squad was a bit more difficult than college training, but I’m having more fun here in Ateneo”, she says, “Medyo mahirap nga lang yung academics (The academics in Ateneo are just a little difficult).”
Patnongon is just one of a handful of heavily scouted UST junior volleyball stars. This season Ateneo struck gold adding another heralded player from USTHS, rookie Alyssa Valdez.
While Valdez will sit out one year of residency, Patnongon will be playing her first season of UAAP volleyball. She plans to stay on the team for five years and predicts that the team will be making it all the way to the championship game against DLSU.
Why not UST? “Not this year,” Patnongon says.
