MANILA, Philippines—Captains are usually respected veterans in a team, but University of Santo Tomas Aldin Ayo begged to differ.
For Season 82, Ayo decided to put in sophomore star CJ Cansino as the Growling Tigers’ skipper, different from what the coach had employed in his previous teams.
During his days at Letran and De La Salle, the master of the “Mayhem System” usually employed seniors as his skippers with McJour Luib and Kevin Racal leading the Knights and Kib Montalbo the Green Archers.
This time, Ayo said it’s not age that decides if a player is suitable to lead a team.
“He has the respect of all the players and he’s a true blooded Thomasian,” said Ayo in Filipino after UST’s 95-82 cruise over University of the East Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“CJ, at a very young age, already has a great attitude and I know this because everything starts from home, I talk to his mother about this and the kid has it all. He can get along with everyone and he doesn’t have any bad manners.”
Cansino, who’s coming off an injury on his anterior cruciate ligament, showed why he deserved the captaincy against the Red Warriors when he put up nine points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
Ayo said Cansino, though, fell into the tendency of sharing the ball more than finding his own shots but he knows his young leader will eventually find his offensive groove.
“This is one of the dangers of putting one of your top players as the captain, they tend to overthink too much of the welfare of the team instead of himself,” said Ayo. “I hope he adjusts but in time his own game would eventually flourish.”