Aguilar: Many able bigs ready to take over

MANILA, Philippines — More than his legacy, Japeth Aguilar hung up his Gilas Pilipinas jersey with peace, comfort and confidence, knowing there are a lot of youthful big men to fill his spot.

Aguilar last Tuesday ended a 16-year stint with Gilas, the longest tenure for any national player in his era, and officially handed the banner to the likes of Kai Sotto, AJ Edu and Quentin Millora-Brown.

“Very confident ako sa kanila na kaya nila. Malayo mararating nila, sobra,” said the 38-year-old Aguilar after Gilas’ 95-71 win over Guam in the first window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

Aguilar, who started donning national colors as a pioneer member of the Smart Gilas Pilipinas program in 2009, started against Guam, and played 10 minutes, collecting three points, a rebound and a steal as head coach Tim Cone gave him a perfect swan song.

Together with June Mar Fajardo, Aguilar formed a formidable frontline tandem that helped Gilas to three straight FIBA Basketball World Cup appearances from 2014.

That year, Gilas ended a 36-year absence in the World Cup by winning a silver medal in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship.

Aguilar also had a hand in Gilas’ two SEABA and SEA Games championships on top of the gold medal in the 2023 Asian Games.