UP star Cagulangan to play for Suwon KT in Korean Basketball League

MANILA, Philippines — From Diliman to South Korea.

UP Fighting Maroons ace point guard JD Cagulangan is taking his talents to the Korean Basketball League (KBL) after a grandiose swan song in the UAAP.

Cagulangan, the newly crowned UAAP Season 87 Finals Most Valuable Player, will soon play for the Suwon KT Sonicboom in South Korea, a source told The STAR.

It’s a new chapter and in the international stage to the rising legend of the Butuan City native after an illustrious collegiate run with the Maroons in the UAAP marked by two championships.

He won his first title in Season 84, serving as a hero with a game-winning triple at the buzzer in Game 3 as UP snapped a 36-year title drought at the expense of three-peat champion Ateneo.

After back-to-back bridesmaid finishes, Cagulangan then exited the UAAP with a bang after steering UP’s redemption tour this season behind averages of 13.67 points, 4.33 rebounds, 4.67 assists, 1.33 steals, 0.67 blocks and 1.67 turnovers.

In UP’s 66-62 Game 3 win witnessed by a record-breaking crowd of 25,248 fans against the La Salle Green Archers, Cagulangan delivered 12 points, two rebounds, four assists and three steals.

In high school, Cagulangan was a one-time champion and Finals MVP for the La Salle-Greenhills in the NCAA before transferring to UP, where he flaunted the same caliber as one of the country’s top collegiate facilitators.

But more than that, Cagulangan provided a rock-solid leadership and court generalship as the Maroons’ point guard ever since which he hopes to carry over to Korea.

Aside from Cagulangan, UAAP MVP Kevin Quiambao of La Salle will also see action in Korea for the Goyang Sono Skygunners following his announcement on Monday.

In Suwon with a 10-8 slate for fourth place of the ongoing KBL, Cagulangan will be the third Filipino import after former Ateneo standout Dave Ildefonso and Gilas Pilipinas youth guard Dalph Panopio.