UE’s Harvey Pagsanjan. –UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—After losing two important players in UAAP Season 85, University of the East will lose one more key cog for the following season.
Harvey Pagsanjan decided to forgo his final playing year to play professional ball with the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards in the MPBL on Friday.
Pagsanjan confirmed his departure from the Red Warriors team on the same day, when he posted a video on Instagram.
“Blessed and grateful. Thank you, UE community, for everything. [Number] 9 out. Bomba, UE!” the caption read.
Pagsanjan was part of the team’s ups and downs in recent years.
The six-foot guard was a member of the Red Warriors team in Season 84 that went winless in 14 games.
He was also a member of this season’s “REDeem team” which almost saw a Final Four appearance with five wins and nine losses.
Pagsanjan was one of the players who got caught with league complications brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He was set to start playing for the Jack Santiago-led squad in Season 83 but due to league cancellation, he started his “rookie season” in Season 84.
The shifty playmaker served as a silver lining for the forgettable season as he averaged 13.4 points per game.
In his final run with UE, Pagsanjan posted norms of 5.08 markers and 4.08 rebounds a night, giving way to one-and-done big man Luis Villegas in the scoring department.
Villegas won mythical five honors with UE after averaging 13.1 points and 8.1 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 0.8 blocks per outing.
Like Villegas, Pagsanjan will not be donning the red and white jersey for Season 86 and will instead join forces with defending MPBL Champion, Nueva Ecija.
Fortunately for Santiago, the guard spot that will be vacated by Pagsanjan can be filled by up-and-comers Kyle Paranada and Rey Remogat.