National team head coach Pat Aquino revealed on Tuesday that Jack Animam has been training with Gilas.
Jack is back!
After sitting out the Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam, Jack Animam returns to another tour of duty with the Gilas Pilipinas Women.
National team head coach Pat Aquino revealed this in Tuesday’s PSA Forum at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
“We’ve been practicing three times a week for the past month already, with the addition of Jack coming back from injury,” Aquino said.
The addition of Animam, who became the first Filipino woman to play professional basketball by way of the First Women’s Basketball League of Serbia, is definitely a big boost for the Filipina ballers.
A five-time UAAP champion, Animam proved instrumental in the country’s breakthrough gold medal in the 29th edition of the biennial meet in Manila.
While she missed the Games in Hanoi due to an ACL injury, the team bested Indonesia by way of win-over-the-other rule to repeat as champs.
Gilas is now gunning for a historic 3-peat - a feat last achieved in 2007 by Malaysia. For the Filipino ballers, training early could be key in pulling that off.
“Nagre-ready na kami for the Southeast Asian Games. It’s an early start. Hopefully this early start will be a positive one,” said Aquino.