“The Exchange Student Who is Causing a Sensation”
That is how newspapers in Kyoto, Japan describe Maui Villanueva, a former UAAP junior Mythical team member from UPIS who is the first Filipino recruited to play basketball for a Japanese school. Now, he’s opened the door for other young Filipino players to follow suit.
It all started in March of 2005, when Villanueva visited a friend at Reyes Gym in Mandaluyong. Higashiyama High School happened to be holding tryouts, and invited him back the following morning, which was the last day. After that last session, the coaches were so impressed, they immediately offered the 6’4” center a three-year scholarship.
“We were surprised when they told us that Maui had to leave immediately the following week,” recalls Maui’s mother, Corinne. “We were happy and sad, and just tried to give him all the advice we could, and told him to pray.”
“There was a lot of pressure on me, because I knew I was representing the Philippines and our culture,” Maui told The Star. “It was really hard. I missed my family and I didn’t understand Japanese. So everything was body language, even the practices.”
But he made a huge impression on the entire Kyoto when, in his first month, he was visited by former President Corazon Aquino, who had read about him in The STAR. Mrs. Aquino was on a speaking engagament in Kyoto, and went to the Higashiyama campus to check on him.
“They were like, ‘Who are you back in the Philippines, anyway?’” laughs Villanueva at the recollection. “It was a great honor for me.”
Eventually, the former UPIS starter’s skill surfaced, and Higashiyama won on several of the tournaments they joined. In the Kyoto district tournament, they placed second only to the eventual All-Japan champion Rakunan High School. Villanueva hopes that, before he graduates in March, he will be able to repay Higashiyama by overcoming that last remaining obstacle.
Now, other schools have taken notice, and are looking for their own Filipino recruits. But before they do that, Maui Villanueva’s coach has one last request: find him another tall, talented Filipino recruit who has the same fighting heart.
