By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Juan Gomez de Liaño has been one of the most elite scorers in the UAAP since emerging as a sensational rookie for the UP Fighting Maroons and later becoming their go-to-guy.
Aside from dominating in the UAAP, the hefty leftie also proved that he belonged with the big boys during his stint with the Mighty Sports and is now a part of the Gilas Pilipinas pool for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
With the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) scrapping their season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Juan GDL is entirely focused in maintaining his spot as a member of the national team.
However, just like his co-Gilas teammates Thirdy Ravena and Ken Tuffin, Juan is also drawing interest overseas.
During The Prospects Pod podcast, Juan expressed his interest in playing overseas, if given the opportunity.
The Fighting Maroon sniper shared that after the Dubai International Basketball Championship, an Egyptian basketball club showed interest in including him in their squad.
Sources also added that one of the teams in the Australia National Basketball League tried to recruit the lefty once, reports also surfaced of him turning down offers from Japan and New Zealand.
“Personally, it’s been a goal of mine to play overseas, especially that I have a Spanish passport din eh so it would be much easier to play in different clubs. I’m just taking it one day at a time. Pagtanda ko, I don’t wanna look back and say I should have done this. I don’t want that to happen,” said Juan.
In the meantime, Juan’s primary goal is still the national team, especially that the FIBA Asia window qualifiers is nearing.
