Are the latest additions to the Blue Eagles ready to fill in the spots vacated by their predecessors?

Earl Murphy

AFTER SPENDING two years with Team Glory Be (Team B), Peter Amiel Murphy is now one of the five latest additions to the Blue Eagles.

Currently a junior management major, the Blue Eagles’ new shooting guard is ready to help fill in the shoes vacated by former key players such as Greg Slaughter and Nico Salva.

Murphy’s love for basketball is rooted in his childhood years. As time progressed, what started out as a fun physical activity eventually turned into a highly competitive sport.

At the age of 16, Murphy was set to go to a university with college basketball still on his agenda. Choosing the Ateneo was not such a hard task, as he believed in both the quality education and the sports program offered by the university.

“Both school and basketball are important for me,” he says. A true student-athlete, he adds, “I have to make time for both [school and basketball], I can’t miss one [or the other].”

The pressure of having moved up to Team A is apparent. Nonetheless, Murphy is confident that being sure of his role in the team and performing it well will be his recipe for success. With his commendable showing in the team’s pre-season tournament, the newest owner of jersey number 10 is ready to set foot on the bigger court.

Vince Tolentino

PERHAPS IT was fate that brought Manuel Vincent Tolentino to Loyola Heights. Tolentino flew to Manila from Canada to attend tryouts for the basketball team of De La Salle University. In the middle of the week-long tryouts, he crossed paths with one of his father’s old friends who suggested he try his luck in the Ateneo. After a day of tryouts, he decided that he would be joining the Blue Eagles.

“I just had a better feel of the community here [in the Ateneo],” Tolentino confesses.

The decision to move from Canada to Manila was a big leap, but he says that his parents were supportive of his decision because there were more basketball opportunities waiting for him here.

As with most top-notch athletes, Tolentino started playing basketball during his childhood. “I learned from my dad—he was my first coach,” he says. As he progressed, he joined several camps and leagues to further hone his talent.

Complying with the residency rule for foreigners in the UAAP, Tolentino spent one year with Team Glory Be (Team B) last season. That one year allowed him to adjust to the changes he was confronted with.

Now suited up to play for Team A, Tolentino is more excited than scared for his debut UAAP season. On going for their sixth championship, Ateneo’s new forward says, “It’s just another championship. We’ll take it one game at a time.

Fran Asuncion

EVERY ATHLETE has their influences. For management engineering major and Blue Eagles point guard Francesco Asuncion, his family was the single biggest factor in his development as a basketball player.

Hailing from Colegio San Agustin and Ateneo de Manila High School, Fran has always been surrounded by his closest relatives. Since he began playing varsity basketball in grade four, he’s had four cousins as his teammates.

Despite his early start, not even he thought that he would one day be the 5’9” defensive ace of the current Blue Eagles squad—though being mentored by his first cousin throughout his career surely helped. Team captain Juami Tiongson became an inspiration for his younger cousin to eventually reach his goals.

“He was recruited to be a four-year scholar in high school. That opened the possibility of playing in the UAAP for me,” Asuncion said of Tiongson in a mix of English and Filipino.

His inclusion in the Blue Eagles’ roster is an accomplishment in itself, but Asuncion knows he still has a long way to go. “My mindset here in Team A is to just focus. They got me from Team B so it feels like I need to catch up and match their abilities,” he added.

Anton Asistio

IN TERMS of the likelihood that true blue Atenean Anton Asistio would make it into the Blue Eagles roster, recent history didn’t seem to be on his side.

Only a handful of these homegrown talents, such as Von Pessumal and Juami Tiongson, have donned the Blue and White in recent memory; fewer still have done so in their freshman year. Also once the smallest kid on the court, no one would have guessed that Asistio would one day become the lethal 5’10 shooting guard he is today.

There were no sure things for this former Blue Eaglet. Though he began his basketball career in grade three, he failed to make it into the Juniors team in his second year of high school. But he bounced back, becoming not only the captain of the squad but its leading scorer as well. This year was no different, as he was even sent down to the Glory Be squad (Team B) for a week before being invited to join Team A in their annual US training camp.

The licensed shooter has never been afraid of taking the big shot, as evidenced by the numerous game-winners and buzzer-beaters he’s made throughout his career. This season, that skill will be put to the test.

“Coming off the bench, I should always be ready because when I come in, my role is to shoot,” he says in a mix of English and Filipino.

Hopefully in a few years, what will be asked of Asistio will not only be to shoot but to lead the team as well.

Ivan Enriquez

CHAMPIONSHIP-CALIBER squads like the Blue Eagles don’t usually turn to their rookies for leadership. In the case of interdisciplinary studies supersenior Ivan Enriquez, however, that’s exactly what they did.

Although the 6’3” forward/center brings much needed size and strength to the Blue Eagles, it’s his off-court contributions that the team heavily relies on. “Even though I’m a rookie, I don’t consider myself as one,” Enriquez admits. “I motivate them. When they’re doing something wrong, I’ll tell them.”

Once a mainstay of the Ateneo High School UAAP team, the veteran rookie shares that the experience will help him a lot now that he’s playing for the Seniors squad. “The captains of the team [Tiongson and Golla], even the veterans [Pessumal and Ravena], they were my teammates in the high school Juniors, so I’m familiar with them.”

Enriquez, who last donned the blue and white colors in his sophomore year of college as a member of Team B, cites the final game of his Season 71 Juniors campaign as one of his favorite basketball moments. It’s there where they beat De La Salle Zobel to claim the crown, solidifying his high school basketball career.  He graduated a champion.

Now on the final leg of his collegiate career, Ivan has the unique opportunity to make history repeat itself with one more crown before it’s all said and done.