In his final year for the UST Growling Tigers, Nic Cabañero has lofty goals for himself and his teammates for UAAP Season 88.
UST main gunner Nic Cabañero has set high goals for himself and the rest of the Growling Tigers as they prepare for battle in UAAP Season 88.
Playing in his final playing year, Cabañero is eager to leave a lasting legacy in España — especially in a year that UST will be hosting the premier collegiate tournament.
Having finished third last year, Cabañero wants more for the team as the Growling Tigers search for a breakthrough.
“'Yung gusto naming maiwan na legacy is to win a championship tapos mabalik 'yung korona sa España,” Cabañero said boldly during the UAAP Season 88 media day.
While Cabañero knows that every team will be gunning for the same goal, he believes that UST has nothing to lose and everything to gain. That is, they will be leaving it out all on the court game in and game out when the ball gets rolling.
“Alam ko na lahat ng team din, they’re aiming for that. We won’t stop, we’ll just do our best tapos go hard lang lagi,” he said.
A different battle
After missing out on the Final Four in his first three years of play, Cabañero had the chance to prove himself under the bright lights of the playoffs in Season 87, when they ended up getting booted by eventual champions UP.
Now with experience under his belt, Cabañero believes they have the tools they need to breakthrough in the semis.
“'Yung biggest lesson is iba talaga 'yung labanan ng Final Four. We learned a lot. We lost tapos let’s see if babawi kami this season,” said Cabañero.
Choosing España
Koji Buenaflor (center) leads UST rookies which will reinforce holdovers like Nic Cabañero and Forthsky Padrigao. | Photo: RM Chua / One Sports
It’s not just going to be Cabañero and Forthsky Padrigao who will be leading the charge this time.
With multiple holdovers from their champion high school squad like Koji Buenaflor, Charles Bucsit, Carl Manding, and Alfred Loreto, there is a lot of promise among España’s rookies.
The Growling Tigers likewise added UAAP High School Best Foreign Student-Athlete Collins Akowe to the mix for this season.
For Cabañero, it was a welcome development.
“Thankful ako sa mga rookies ngayon kasi they chose UST to represent. I know talaga na they got next talaga,” he said.
With UST playing hosts, Cabañero said they’ll be energized more than ever.
“Super motivated kasi 'yun nga, hosts kami and let’s just do the game properly lang and no presusre. Bigay lang namin yung best namin every game,” said Cabañero.
They open their campaign in UAAP Season 88 on Sunday, September 21, against the UP Fighting Maroons at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.