Gilas Pilipinas will host Guam at the Blue Eagle Gym for the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, marking a "homecoming" of sorts for former Ateneo star recruit Dwight Ramos.
Dwight Ramos will soon return to the Blue Eagles’ nest he once called home for two years.
Only this time, the B.LEAGUE star is playing for a team that’s rocking a slightly different shade of blue.
This as Ramos and Gilas Pilipinas host Guam at the Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym for the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers on Dec. 1.
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The 6-foot-5 guard couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.
“I was practicing for Ateneo pretty much everyday. Me and my brother [Eli] were there everyday, Team B and Team A. There’s a lot of like tough days, long practices,” Ramos told One Sports regarding his Ateneo stint.
“Blue Eagle Gym didn’t look like that when I was still there. It’s nice to see it renovated.”
@onesportsphl WHAT IF DWIGHT STAYED IN ATENEO? 🦅 Dwight Ramos talks about playing at the Blue Eagle Gym in Gilas Pilipinas’ FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers game against Guam on December 1 and shares what could have happened if he had stayed to play in the UAAP instead of heading to Japan. | via Gillian Trinidad/One Sports #GilasPilipinas
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Ramos was a top recruit for the Blue Eagles in 2019 and would have been eligible to play two years for Ateneo starting UAAP Season 83.
However, Ramos didn’t officially don the Ateneo colors in a UAAP game.
After the COVID-19 pandemic struck, his supposed collegiate career in the Philippines was put in limbo and ultimately never took off.
In September 2021, just months after his impressive stint with Gilas in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in Clark, Ramos signed with the Toyama Grouses in the B.LEAGUE, turning professional.
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“After playing with Gilas, I got offered to play in Japan. At that point, everything is still a bubble, there was no word on when the UAAP will start,” said Ramos, who start for Gilas in all three games in that Clark bubble to finish the Asia Cup qualifiers.
“At that point I had been waiting two years already just to play and I’m getting older. So at that point I decided to go professional.”
Since leaving Ateneo, Ramos has maintained his excellence with Gilas and is now in his fifth season in Japan—begging the question: “What if Dwight Ramos stayed in Katipunan?”
The Ateneo batch that Ramos would have been a part of was coming off a 16-0 title run in UAAP Season 82, with key players like Ange Kouame, Dave Ildefonso, Tyler Tio, and SJ Belangel.
[ALSO READ: Quentin Millora-Brown relishes opportunity to learn from Gilas vets like June Mar Fajardo]
With a formidable lineup guided by seasoned mentor Tab Baldwin, the expectations are basically self-explanatory.
But in true Dwight Ramos fashion, the 26-year-old said success was never guaranteed even if he stayed with Ateneo.
Notably, the Blue Eagles went 13-1 in Season 84 but lost to the equally-loaded UP Fighting Maroons in the Finals.
“I don’t know honestly. In the UAAP, the way they played is just so crazy. Honestly, I don’t know anything could have happened,” Ramos said.
“I could have won, I could have lost. I could have played good, could have played really bad just because I’m not used to that kind of play.”
[ALSO READ: Tim Cone says Juan Gomez de Liaño will be on Gilas Pilipinas team soon]
Over four years since turning pro, what ifs are behind Ramos now. At the moment, Dwight’s focus is to help Gilas win a pair of games against Guam to jumpstart their road back to the FIBA World Cup.
Still, Ramos will make the most out of his “homecoming” in Katipunan.
“[It’s a homecoming] a little bit. Of course with a different team going back there. But hopefully some Ateneo fans in there still supporting us so looking forward to seeing the fans at the game,” he said.
[ALSO READ: RJ Abarrientos’ childhood comes with a hard truth—he grew up without a father]
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Like most sportswriters, Jan Ballesteros once dreamed of becoming a professional hooper. But he learned the hard way that it’s not for everyone.
He continues to be involved in the sport he loves, but this time as a member of the PBA Press Corps. Aside from primarily covering the PBA, he is also assigned to cover Gilas Pilipinas.