FILE – Ateneo Blue Eaglets’ Forthsky Padrigao. INQUIRER PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Ateneo high school standouts Forthsky Padrigao and Joshua Lazaro still have a year left of eligibility for the Blue Eaglets in the UAAP.
But the two have already made up their minds as to which school they will play for in college and they didn’t have to look far.
Padrigao and Lazaro will stay with Ateneo and suit up for the Blue Eagles beginning UAAP Season 84, head coach Tab Baldwin announced Monday.
“We’re very proud and excited and happy to be able to say that their future is going to be with the Blue Eagles,” Baldwin said in a report on ABSCBN News.
“They have to finish their last year with the Blue Eaglets, but when that is finished, they’ll be joining the Blue Eagles and they’ll be in training for Season 84.”
The decision to remain with Ateneo didn’t really take much thinking for Padrigao and Lazaro.
The school’s topnotch basketball program under the tutelage of Baldwin plus its quality education made staying put the best option for the two.
“The quality education in Ateneo is a given. What made me really commit to Ateneo is the basketball program,” Padrigao said in Filipino.
“Ateneo has both (quality education and good basketball program) so I don’t need to look elsewhere.”
The Blue Eagles will be seeking their fourth straight UAAP championship next season.