Sports journalists to honor Cebuano cager

Sunday, January 15, 2012

LIVING up to his lofty billing, Cebuano bigman Greg Slaughter consistently displayed virtuous performances as a rookie for the multi-titled Ateneo de Manila University.

Taking care of Ateneo’s defense in the shaded lane, the 23-year-old Slaughter swatted shots and seemed unstoppable when it was his turn to score and save the Blue Eagles from the jaws of defeat.

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This allowed him to take one of the slots in this year’s Mythical Five of the UAAP-NCAA Press Corps, which will be holding the annual Collegiate Basketball Awards on January 21.

Excluding the playoff matches, Slaughter posted averages of 13.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.9 blocks after the 14-game basketball eliminations of the 74th UAAP season.

He also helped Ateneo’s successful campaign of a fourth straight title last season, putting the school in the same league with archrival De La Salle University.

Before his stint with Ateneo, the Fil-American center made headlines when he played for the University of Visayas from 2007 to 2009. This school holds the most number of crowns in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) at nine.

He was also the first player in the league’s 11-year-history to collar three most valuable player awards-- regular season, Finals and All-Star in 2008.

Besides Slaughter, the rest of the press corps’ Mythical Selection are NCAA two-time MVP Calvin Abueva, Ateneo’s Kiefer Ravena, San Beda's Garvo Lanete, and UAAP MVP Bobby Ray Parks Jr. of National University.

The Mythical Five is one of the major awards presented by a group of scribes from various broadsheets, tabloids, and online publications covering the varsity beat.

Lanete, who hails from Zamboanga, took the scoring cudgels from injured American star Sudan Daniel to tow the San Beda Red Lions to a record-tying 16th NCAA championship.

Parks, the son of seven-time PBA Best Import Bobby Parks, Sr., also made a strong impact on his rookie year to capture the UAAP MVP plum with the rebuilding Bulldogs. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)