Cagulangan heads for KBL; Maroons stay home

MANILA, Philippines — UAAP Finals MVP JD Cagulangan is expected to leave for Korea after the holidays while the UP Maroons, the newly-minted UAAP champions, are staying put instead to celebrate and spend the much-needed break with their families.

UP Office of Athletics and Sports Development director Bo Perasol said the Fighting Maroons will not have an overseas trip after Christmas and even New Year, contrary to expectations, following a sweet title redemption in the UAAP Season 87.

This is due to the opening of classes in Diliman for the incoming second semester with the Fighting Maroons prioritizing their academic duties.

“There’s really no time for us to go on a trip as the second sem will start by the middle of January,” Perasol told The STAR.

UP, after back-to-back runner-up finishes, is coming off a triumphant revenge tour in the UAAP with a 66-62 Game 3 win in the finals to dethrone La Salle.

It’s the second title for UP in the past four seasons.

And for the Fighting Maroons, it’s just the beginning of bigger things to come with local and international training camps in three locations by May for an early Season 88 preparations.