The proliferation of foreign players in the country’s leading collegiate leagues is hurting Philippine basketball in the long term, with its effects felt as early as Sunday during the PBA Rookie Draft, longtime followers of the local game say.
At least three coaches interviewed by the Inquirer believe that with schools recruiting foreign big men as quick-fix solutions to win championships, the exercise hampers the country’s chances of developing its own big men who can play for the national flag.
“It (recruitment of foreigners) is stunting the development of the Filipino big man,” Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao said after his team failed to land a big man in the last Rookie Draft despite having two first-round picks.
“The foreigners are occupying slots in the school teams and they are denying the homegrown player the chance to play,” added Guiao. “If a big man cannot play in the UAAP and the NCAA, where can he develop his talent?
“June Mar Fajardo and Greg Slaughter (who went No. 1 in the 2012 and 2013 Draft, respectively, and who played in Cebu) are once-in-a-generation type of players in my opinion.”
Several schools from both college leagues have signed as many as two foreigners to play—some have not played yet because they are serving the residency rule—and are dominating action inside the paint.
In all, there are 11 foreigners playing in both the UAAP and NCAA.
“We could be left with guards in future PBA Drafts,” said Globalport coach Pido Jarencio, who won a UAAP title in 2006 with Santo Tomas, four years before Karim Abdul came as a walk-in tryout for the Growling Tigers.
“I don’t see problems with schools playing student-athletes,” Jarencio said. “The problem is that schools now recruit players to become students so they can play. Teams without the resources cannot afford to do the same.”
Jarencio pointed out as exceptions two celebrated cases that fueled UAAP dynasties.
First was the Anthony Williams case in the early 1980s when Far Eastern U, to Jarencio’s recollection, went undefeated for three years. The second was the Kirk Long case with Ateneo very recently.
Both were discovered in the school intramurals and were in fact students, according to Jarencio.
Williams had gone on to become a physician while Long spent his childhood in the country and also enrolled at Faith.
“In my opinion, [foreign] players should only be in the PBA—which is for entertainment,” Grand Slam-winning coach Tommy Manotoc said. “The exception should apply only to Filipinos with foreign blood, because they can play for the national team.”
The NCAA is trying to weed out these players by allowing no more recruitments starting next season, while the UAAP will allow just one foreigner per school starting next year.
But with a PBA Draft yielding bumper selections of guards and wingmen, the damage to local basketball is already being felt, and undoing the anomaly could take years.