Carl Tamayo, left, and Kevin Quiambao, former teammates in high school, team up again this time for Gilas Pilipinas in the Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Carl Tamayo has a lot of things to be excited about in his return to Gilas Pilipinas for the Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers one of which is his reunion with Kevin Quiambao.
Tamayo said he can’t wait to share the frontcourt with Quiambao, who was his teammate in high school.
“I’m excited because we faced each other in college and now we have a chance to play together like we did in high school and knowing Kevin, we have our chemistry as teammates where we know how each other plays,” said Tamayo in Filipino.
SCHEDULE: Gilas Pilipinas at Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers window 1
“I’m happy that I’m with Kevin again here in Gilas.”
Tamayo and Quiambao go way back.
Carl Tamayo and Justin Brownlee during Gilas Pilipinas practice.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Before Tamayo won a UAAP title with University of the Philippines and Quiambao became one of the best collegiate players in the country today, the two starred for Nazareth School of National University (NUNS) in high school.
Tamayo and Quiambao wreaked havoc in the juniors division under champion coach Goldwin Monteverde and put the Bullpups on the map.
The two were expected to continue their torrid play together at the collegiate level but it never happened.
But after being called up for national team duty, Tamayo and Quiambao finally got their chance to team up again and this time on a much bigger stage.
“We faced a lot of challenges when we were in high school but now we’ll represent Gilas. We’ll represent the flag,” said Quiambao, the reigning UAAP MVP.