Japeth’s future

Japeth Aguilar was supposed to play for the Philippine team in the 30th William Jones Cup, which opened in Taipei Thursday. But since the organizers made it next to impossible for the Philippines to join, the opportunity to see Aguilar’s development up close will have to wait.

Nevertheless, the forward Ateneo Blue Eagle is looking forward to a much better NCAA season after being injured and benched last season.

The 6-10 forward-center was playing hard and had earned a spot as the sixth man of the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers before hurting his right ankle late last year. By the time he had come back to full strength, he was no longer part of the rotation.

But this year, WKU hired a new coach, Ken McDonald, who had been an assistant to Ricka Barnes at the successful program at Texas. McDonald helped mentor the Longhorns to a 106-35 record during that span, the most victories in a four-year period in school history. UT advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. McDonald has been giving Japeth more playing time, and more responsibility.

“I had what I perceive to be an incredible job at Texas, so it was going to take a truly special situation for me to consider leaving,” McDonald said. “I’ve been on different benches the last 14 years waiting for an opportunity like this. I truly believe this is a job with no ceiling.”

Last March, Aguilar watched from the bench as his team made the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament. The game-winning shot of his teammate Ty Rogers in the first round was even nominated for an ESPY award, since it was the Toppers’ first win over Drake since 1995.

Aguilar’s teammate, 6-5 do-it-all guard Courtney Lee, was picked in the first round by the Orlando Magic, the first WKU player chosen in the first round since 1987.

“I’m doing really great. We have a new coaching staff and my relationship with them is different,” Aguilar told The STAR in an e mail. “It’s much better than the previous coaches. The new coaches are cool. Our head coach coached Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldrich – they’re both in the NBA. They are expecting more of me, let’s say they expect me to be one of the leaders in the team.”

Durant was the 2007 consensus National College Player of the Year, and became NBA Rookie of the Year after being picked second overall by the Seattle Supersonics. Aldridge made the NBA All-Rookie First team in 2007, and averaged 17.6 points and 7.8 rebounds last season.

At first, Japeth felt lonely in the spread out plains of Bowling Green, Kentucky. Unlike big cities which were melting pots for foreigners, Bowling Green only had one Filipino family who regularly watched WKU games and befriended Aguilar, whose parents lived in Illinois, a seven-hour drive away. Then Japeth met Jessica Magley, the pretty and smart 6-1 power forward of the Lady Hilltoppers, and they hit it off. In fact, when this writer interviewed the pair in Bowling Green in October, Jessica was learning to speak kapampangan to help Japeth feel more at ease. Jessica’s brother DJ, is a 6-9 forward on the men’s team, and once shattered a backboard in high school. Her father, David, was a 6-8 second-round draft pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1978, but played for the Kansas City Jayhawks. In 1982, the elder Magley averaged a career-high 17.3 points and 5.3 rebounds at forward.

Aguilar, who grew three inches and put on 20 pounds of muscle since leaving the country a little over three years ago, was excited about the chance to suit up for flag and country.

“I was supposed to play for the RP team at the Jones Cup, but the RP team withdrew.” Aguilar continued. “Then they told me that they’ll be joining another league, Brunei Cup, but it starts in August and that’s too late for me because I need to get back to WKU for practice.”

Nevertheless, Aguilar was asked by WKU to stay until 2010, when he will have fully matured. Given all the changes in the pre-season, he’s trying not to get his hopes up too much, chastened by what happened last year.

“I’ve been working really hard and hopefully everything goes well,” said Aguilar, whose father, former Ginebra center Peter, is a factory worker in Chicago. “I’m trying not to be so excited because you might never know what’s going to happen. Like last year, I got injured, you know.”

The Star has confirmed that some NBA teams, such as the Seattle Supersonics (who are now moving to Oklahoma) and the Los Angeles Lakers have been keeping tabs on Japeth. Given the large number of Asians and particularly Filipinos in US, having a Filipino player, even deep on the bench, would help sell tickets.

With a new chance to prove himself, Japeth is hoping to eventually become more than just a token minority.