Davao City-groomed talents, Michael Yong and RJ Rizada, have been playing in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) while John Paul Escobal has been recently accepted to join the San Beda Red Lions (SBRL) in order to play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Their local compatriots, Jo Caesar Caspe and Marc Terence Cagoco, are now on their way in following the same footsteps toward entering the two most prestigious collegiate leagues in the country, otherwise considered as the reliable training ground for the country’s future Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) stars.

The two are both Holy Cross Crusaders, coming from the Holy Cross of Davao College, Inc. (HCDC), the school that produced Jomer Rubi who once played for Tanduay in the PBA, and Escobal who was initially invited to join the UAAP champions De La Salle University but opted to play for the SBRL).

During the National Students Basketball Championships held last February in Dumaguete City, Caspe and Cagoco were scouted by the coaching staff of the Jose Rizal University (JRU) Bombers, currently playing in the NCAA.

In an interview, Caspe said, “I can’t still believe up to this time. Well, the coaching staff of JRU already talked to my parents and now I’m ready to go there and play.” He used to be one of the HCDC quadruplets that finished as a runner-up in the Adidas Streetball Challenge Asian Finals held in Seoul, South Korea.

However, the two could not play during this year’s game season for they would still have to undergo a one-year residency.

HCDC coach, Jigger Saniel, a Holy Cross Crusader himself and was able to play for Montana Pawnshop in the Philippine Basket League (PBL), believed that his wards got what it would take to make it to the big collegiate tournaments. “I think they can make their names in the big tournaments like UAAP and NCAA. I just wish them luck,” he added.

The six-foot-two wingman Caspe and relatively short but flashy Cagoco had just steered HCDC to its first ever Gaisano South Cup championship after a 10-year title drought.