Converge FiberXers draft pick Pao Javillonar during the 2024 PBA Rookie Draft. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Converge draft pick Pao Javillonar is excited to see his Letran colors represented in the PBA.
After being selected by the FiberXers in the second round with the seventh pick, Javillonar expressed his excitement to play alongside and against his collegiate cohorts with the Knights.
“I’m so thankful because they weren’t just my teammates in college, our journey continues here. We might be in different teams but our blood is still one with the ‘Arriba’ spirit,” said Javillonar in Filipino.
READ: PBA: Help arrives for Converge, but Ayo patient on progress
Javillonar will be joined by King Caralipio, who averaged 6.0 points and 6.18 rebounds per game in the Philippine Cup, at the Converge camp.
The forward duo from Intramuros now have a shot at facing their teammates like Fran Yu in Northport and Louie Sangalang in Terrafirma.
But despite the familiar faces, Javillonar understands that it’s a new era for him.
READ: PBA: Converge eyeing better times ahead with top draft pick Baltazar
At Converge, he will share the floor with 2024 overall first pick Justine Baltazar and NCAA rival Justin Arana from Arellano.
“Balti (Baltazar) has been by idol since my high school days. We got together in NU and he was my senior then. That’s where I polished my defense.”
“Meanwhile Arana, he’s my good friend so we’ll have a good tandem as agile bigs. We can play together. We’ll work on it.”
Aside from Baltazar and Javillonar, the FiberXers also selected Ronan Santos in the third round of this year’s draft.