The Truth behind Jojo Duncil’s decision to forgo his final year

JOJO Duncil, the player under scrutiny by the UAAP board, has pushed the escape button. Mr. Duncil and UST did the best way possible probably to avoid controversy, referring to Duncil’s birth certificates – the dissimilarity between the photo copy record of UAAP eligibility committee and his true record from the NSO.

His records in the UAAP said he was born in 1983, contrary to his authenticated NSO record. His NSO record stated that he was born in 1982. If he was born in 1982 means that he cannot play this season because he is 25 years old. Only players below 24 years old are allowed to play UAAP basketball.

Just three days ago, I went to the UST campus in Espana, Manila and I’m really happy to meet the man they call Mr. Jojo Duncil – last year’s finals MVP who took charge of the Growling Tiger’s destiny to a 2-1 victory over Ateneo to claim the 69th UAAP title. We had a great conversation. But some questions are still left hanging.

Jojo told me, there are a lot of people who are trying to ruin his reputation and tarnish the name of his school by horse riding on the issue. But despite those intrigues, as the way he expresses, he said even further that he’ll play this season even if some schools will oppose his eligibility.

“Lalaban kami kahit ano mangyari, lalaro ako para matulungan ko ang aking eskwelahan para maging champion ulit kami,” he bravely told this writer.

Jojo also admitted last Wednesday after practice that his birth certificate was accidentally duplicated when the municipality of Apalit had lost his original birth certificate many years back.

“When my older sister tried to get a copy of my birth certificate, our municipality lost it and replaced the document with a wrong year of birth (1982),” said Duncil. “By July, I’m hoping everything will be cleared because we are donig something about it.” Duncil was referring to a court proceeding in his hometown in Apalit, Pampanga.

Now those were his statements. It’s up to you to interpret up to its finest print on what he meant.

Three days later, i received a press release via my email, saying that Duncil will forgo his remaining year to have a shot of becoming a professional basketball player, though I’m not surprised by this move.

Here’s the press release sent by this year’s UAAP host school:

SPORTS SECTION PLEASE, URGENT UAAP RELEASE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH

Duncil foregoes final year of eligibility, decides to turn pro.

JOJO Duncil, the 24-year-old who led the Santo Tomas Growling Tigers to an improbable Cinderella finish last year, has decided to forego his final year of UAAP eligibility to join the coming Philippine Basketball Assocation Draft.

The crafty, 6-foot shooting guard got the blessings of school officials and his coach, Pido Jarencio, after a long talk yesterday, with Jarencio saying that he will not in any way “stand in the way of his progress.”

” It is his and his family’s decision,” Jarencio said. “He already served his school well, and with that we are grateful. It’s time for us, as his guardians here (at UST), to support him in his career move.”

A native of Apalit town in Pampanga, Duncil, who won the Finals MVP last season when the Tigers upset the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 2-1, in the title series, was also a vital cog of the Harbour Centre team that won the PBL Unity Cup recently. His contract with the Batang Pier will expire at the end of this month.

” I want to play against the best and it is at this stage of my career where I feel that I can do that,” Duncil, who is the second blue-chip player to skip this year’s UAAP after Adamson’s Ken Bono, said in Filipino. “I am very thankful for UST officials for giving me their blessings.”

The PBA Draft is set in the second week of August and Duncil is expected to be snagged high in the order. Duncil attended practice at the UST gym yesterday to bid teammates farewell and wish them the best in their title defense, which starts Saturday next week.

Bono, the burly 6-foot-5 center who has a soft, accurate touch from the outside, is also reportedly set to enlist in the pool, which could go down as one of the richest in recent years.

I personally don’t know what the UAAP board will tell UST on Tuesday. But I’m sure they will throw this question at them: Why did you (UST) and Mr. Duncil did not wait for our decision before releasing this press statement?

Anyway, about my own opinion, UST and Duncil did the right thing…hopefully public perception will prevail.

via inboundpass.com
http://www.inboundpass.com/2007/06/30/the-truth-behind-jojo-duncils-decision-to-forgo-his-final-year/