Hard work pays off for practice player turned Ginebra draftee

Jericho de Guzman. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Jericho de Guzman stood at 6-foot-11, but he was never the one to standout in a basketball crowd.

During the team’s championship run in the PBA Governors’ Cup, his only chance to step into the parquet floor was when the confetti started to fall inside Smart Araneta Coliseum.

De Guzman was no fan. He was the team’s practice player, but with the anonymity surrounding him he can be easily mistaken for a spectator.

Until Sunday night at Robinsons Place Manila when he took the stage as the 10th pick in the regular draft by Ginebra. 

“Right now sobrang saya ko ngayon, dream come true, pinagtrabahuhan ko ng five months nag pay off na, officially ka-Barangay na ako,” said de Guzman.

“Ito na start and ibibgay ko best ko. Pagsisikapan ko na tumaas level ng laro ko para sa barangay.”

De Guzman is already 27 years old, a little old for someone who’s just starting a professional basketball career. 

But age is not an issue for the former College of St. Benilde center who admitted he once doubted if he could ever become a PBA talent.

“Dati before I graduated naisip ko pero, di ako nag give up sa dream ko kasi alam ko through hard work and dasal sa Diyos makakarating ka sa pangarap mo,” said de Guzman. “Hindi ako nag give up and naghanap ako ng ways.”