Ryan Buenafe: A King Eagle In The Making

I just had an interview with Ryan Buenafe this afternoon. If you have been living under a rock in the past few years, Ryan is the current NCAA Juniors Division MVP (both Season and Finals!) and is Ateneo's prized recruit. He led San Sebastian to three straight championships. (I know, I know, overachiever siya)

A lot of controversy has been surrounding his choice to make Katipunan his new home. There's even this rumor that his family was offered 1.5 million pesos by a certain someone so he'd put on the blue and white jersey. Whether that is true or not, the recruitment process should not overshadow the more important detail - he is one hell of a basketball player and he will certainly help Ateneo reclaim the crown this year (along with the veterans and other rookies - Nico Salva, Tionglian MVP Justin Chua, Vince Burke and Zags Gonzaga - of course!).

But I was really surprised that he plays shooting guard. With a towering height of 6'4", he's a guard? Wow, I think I got too used to our smaller guards such as Chris Tiu who's just about 5'10". Oh by the way, Ryan idolizes Chris!


Enough of the technical stuff, it was really fun interviewing him. He couldn't properly answer the questions because he was kinda shy. I mean, he's a freshman after all and he is still adapting to his new environment. Although he's an NCAA Juniors superstar, he has to prepare himself for a bigger, meaner and wilder game in the UAAP.

During the photo shoot, he couldn't help but smirk while his teammates Nonoy and Nico tease him from afar. I told him that he should get used to it. He is, after all, "Ryan Buenafe." He just smiled, still shyly.

Oh well, there is a lot in store for the new bearer of the fabled number 13 jersey. Will he be able to replace Chris Tiu once the latter graduates? We'll have to wait and see.

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Oh and if you're an Atenean (or alumni or fan, it doesn't matter), do attend our annual Big Blue Cheer Rally on Friday (June 27), 4:30pm at the Blue Eagle Gym. Show some school spirit and meet this season's athletes!!!

P.S. Ryan's eyelashes make me insecure....haha =)

CREDITS: Pictures from Nolan Empalmado and Alyson Yap of the Fabilioh Sports Shooters. =)