By Jerome Lagunzad
Once he received the Finals MVP plum after leading Ateneo to the UAAP juniors basketball crown at the expense of National University last Friday night, towering Kai Sotto called out his fellow Blue Eaglets to join him at center court.
Although he proved to be the biggest difference in the winner-take-all showdown, the 7-foot center, the youngest of the bunch at 15 years old, was humble enough to admit that team success is not all about him.
“Yung Finals MVP, lahat ‘yun para sa team ko,” said Sotto, who tallied 19 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks off the bench while teaming up with veterans SJ Belangel, Dave Ildefonso and Joaqui Manuel in Ateneo’s rousing finish in the last four minutes.
“Hindi ko naman makukuha ‘yung Finals MVP kung hindi dahil sa coach ko, sa teammates ko, sa family ko. ‘Yung nakuha kong award ngayon… tinawag ko teammates ko dahil para talaga sa kanila dahil kung wala sila hindi sila makakaabot sa ganito.”
But there’s no doubt that Sotto proved tallest among his peers especially down the stretch where he even turned a Manuel miss into a go-ahead putback that put the Blue Eaglets ahead for good with 25.3 seconds to play.
More than redeeming himself from a so-so performance in their close 70-67 loss in Game 2 that prevented their bid for a perfect title run, Sotto powered Ateneo back to the throne for the first time since 2015 and helped the “Blue and White” hike its league-leading juniors cage title haul to 19 overall.
Sotto also made sure he won’t let Ateneo coach Joe Silva down.
“Tinext niya ako, sabi niya ‘Kai, kailangan ka namin. Kailangan mo ipakita talaga ‘yung galing mo.’ Sabi ko, ‘Coach ‘di na kailangan sabihin ‘yan. Gagawin ko na talaga yan. Ito na last game Coach, para sa’yo ‘to,” he said.