DLSU’s Caracut tops UST’s Lee for Rookie of the Year plum

La Salle’s Andrei Caracut (13) during his UAAP debut against National University. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Andrei Caracut’s game may have dipped as the season went along but the La Salle guard did enough early to narrowly escape with the Rookie of the Year award.

Caracut garnered 31.67 statistical points while Marvin Lee, the University of Santo Tomas guard, came in close second with 31.43 SPs.

“Andrei, somewhere end of the first round he encountered health issues so he lost 12 to 15 pounds and ever since he just gained three, never got back to his shape where he was in the Filoil and at the start of the season,” said La Salle head coach Juno Sauler.

Those health concerns forced the former San Beda Red Cub to miss a couple of games at the start of the second round and wasn’t the same player since.

Caracut is the second Green Archer in the last four seasons to win Rookie of the Year after Jeron Teng in Season 75.

Caracut, who averaged 9.2 points per game, had three points on 1-of-4 shooting and four rebounds in La Salle’s 71-68 loss to Far Eastern University that ended the Archers’ Final Four bid Wednesday night.