The Semerads speak

Players normally don’t look for a change of scenery when their team is winning. They would be even less inclined to leave if they are an integral part of the team and considered major contributors, more so if the team has won back-to-back league championships with the players in question. 

But that is the case of the Semerad twins, Anthony and David. For three months now, the Fil-Australian pair have been the subject of rumors regarding their desire to leave the Red Lions and transfer to the Ateneo Blue Eagles. This week, the two young front-liners confirmed the rumors.

“Yes, it’s official, we’ve left San Beda,” said David Semerad.

“When we first came out here, we didn’t know what was here,” echoed Anthony, the more offensive-minded player of the two. “Our first year, we improved as players individually. Our second year, we stayed there, our third year, the same. San Beda has a great program, but maybe it’s not for my brother and I. Other players improve under that type of program.”

The 6’5” Semerads refuse to comment on hints of differences with the Red Lions coaching staff headed by multi-titled head coach Frankie Lim, and insist that it has nothing to do with playing time, either. David was a back-up forward/center for San Beda, coming off the bench with Finals MVP Dave Marcelo when the starting center-power forward combination of Jake and Kyle Pascual sat down. Anthony, meanwhile, was a shooter whose presence was sorely missed when he fell ill to dengue and missed five weeks of the protracted season. Fifteen pounds lighter, he since returned and helped the Red Lions win a string of games late in the second round. Each of them has had at least one outstanding performance in a crucial game this season.

“We’ve played for the national team – under 18 – in Europe, so we’ve played basketball at a high level,” continued Anthony. “Now, we know what basketball is like here, too. My brother and I are concerned about our development as players.”

When the rugged brothers first came to the Philippines, they looked more like natural-born rugby players than ballers. They ran the floor exceptionally well for big men, but had to learn how Filipinos played the game, and improve their outside shooting and ball-handling. Now, they want to take it to the next level. 

Normally, when a player who transfers from the NCAA to the UAAP and vice versa, he has to sit out one year to establish residency. But in the case of the Semerads, they will most probably sit out two, since they played in the PBA D-League. That is a rule unique to the UAAP. The brothers don’t seem that concerned, saying they are young enough to have a couple of years of eligibility left should that be the case.

If the Semerad brothers sit out only one year, then they will be able to suit up in the UAAP in 2013, right after Nico Salva, Justin Chua, the returning Ryan Buenafe and Oping Sumalinog graduate from Ateneo, and before Kiefer Ravena’s younger brother and Norman Black’s son Aaron inevitably join the seniors team. But it looks like that may be far-fetched at this point. 

“It has to be two years,” insists the athletic director of another UAAP school.

Anthony and David also dismiss offers to play in the PBA, claiming they want to get their degrees more than anything else.

“We want to get our education, so no, we’re not turning pro,” David affirmed.

But for San Beda alumni, the twins’ answers to why they wanted to leave the Red Lions are inadequate and considered an insult to the school. After the Semerads appeared on the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) program “Hardball” Wednesday night, irate San Beda faithful made their sentiments known, placing phone calls to the network and making comments online. Needless to say, the reactions have been very emotional.

At the end of the day, Anthony and David Semerad are exercising their right to explore their options, and they will have a cost to face, whether it be losing two years of eligibility or bearing the lingering hostility of San Beda fans who feel betrayed and abandoned. How they handle it will be their next big test.