Jared Bahay not closing doors on UP

CEBU, Philippines — Cebuano cager Jared Bahay, the country’s top high school prospect, is not closing the doors on playing for the University of the Philippines (UP) men’s basketball team in the UAAP.

This came after Bahay’s reported turning away from a prior commitment to the Fighting Maroons.

In March last year, the All-Star point guard from Mambaling, Cebu City has announced his commitment to don UP’s maroon jersey in the prestigious collegiate league beginning in Season 87.

“I chose UP because of the good education they will provide and the lovely community they have. I believe they will help hone my skills to my fullest potential,” Bahay then said in a statement.

That is now in doubt following Bahay’s decision to rethink his choices and explore other options.

While Bahay is headed to that direction, his close friend and confidant Dr. Rhoel Dejaño said “decommitment” seemed to be not the appropriate term.

“I think “decommitted” is not the right word,” said Dejaño, a well known sports medicine specialist and longtime resident physician of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI). “Bahay is just trying to lie low from basketball with all the pressures that had been through. For now, he wants to focus on his academics being an honor student and nothing else.”

“It’s true that he received various offers not only from UAAP and NCAA but also from Australia, New Zealand and even the United States and that he is weighing ‘other opportunities’ but UP is not excluded from that. He is not completely shutting down the possibility of playing for the Fighting Maroons in the UAAP,” Dejaño added.

Dejaño has forged a close bond with Bahay being the team doctor of the seven-time CESAFI champions Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles.

The 18-year-old Bahay was crowned as season Most Valuable Player for helping the Magis Eagles complete a rare three-peat in last year’s CESAFI cage wars.

Prior to that, the Ateneo de Cebu talisman was named MVP when Central Visayas, represented by the Magis Eagles, dethroned the powerhouse National Capital Region (NCR) to win gold medal in the Palarong Pambansa.

A former mainstay of Gilas Pilipinas Youth program, Bahay made history as the first player from the province to rank first in the 2023 NBTC list of the most impressive Under 19 talents all over the archipelago. He’s the first non-UAAP and non-NCAA cager to claim the top spot.