AJ Edu. Photo by Randolph B. Leongson
For AJ Edu, joining Gilas Pilipinas on Tuesday’s evening practice session was an eye-opener of sorts.
“It’s amazing. This is something that people dream of, an opportunity to come and train with the best players in the Philippines. It’s really amazing,” said the 17-year-old.
The Fil-Nigerian Edu was invited by Gilas team manager Butch Antonio to participate in the national team practice Tuesday at Meralco Gym, where he rubbed elbows with a number of Gilas pool members.
“I was nervous for it, but I was ready and I was really excited for it. I’m really happy with how I trained,” the 6-foot-10 prodigy said.
Though Tuesday’s session was just a short one, coach Chot Reyes noted it’s still a huge morale-booster for the young guys, especially for Edu.
“We always like to do that with the younger guys. We always want to expose them to the national pool and we’ve been looking at him for a long time. That’s why we wanted to get him here and practice with us,” the outspoken mentor said.
Edu said that he won’t have any second thoughts if he gets an invite anew to join the national team practices in the future.
“I might be coming again. Hopefully, it will become something regular in the future. Right now it’s just an experience,” he said.
For now, Edu is focused on the 2017 Fiba 3×3 Under-18 World Cup in Chengdu, China from June 28 to July 2, where he will represent the country alongside Encho Serrano, Rhayyan Amsali, and Juan Gomez de Liaño.
The Philippine team was slotted in Pool A, where it will clash against world number one Netherlands, Poland, Turkmenistan, and Israel.
“We’re really excited about it,” shared Edu. “I got really good teammates, we think we can do better in previous tournaments.”