By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Ilonggo point guard Franz Diaz will be taking his talents to the Iloilo United Royals in the ongoing 2023 OKBet-Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL).
The development was confirmed after a phone call from Iloilo team owner Mr. JJ Javelosa to the Daily Guardian last April 1, 2023.
After a failed stint with the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers for the upcoming UAAP season, Diaz will be looking to divert his focus to helping the Iloilo squad rack up its first-ever win of the season.
This is the United Royals’ first losing start since joining the MPBL last 2019 and is yet to pick up a win when they dropped their first three games.
According to Javelosa, he is already eager to retool the team as early as possible to get back to their winning ways.
His first step was adding notable players to his roster and acquiring Diaz is one of the latest key moves he made in the first half of the season.
The 23-year-old pride of MH Del Pilar Jaro, Iloilo recently led the CEU Scorpions to the Universities and Colleges Basketball League (UCBL) championship after edging Olivarez College in Game two, 92-82.
Diaz was impressive during his final year with the Scorpions and averaged 9.6 points, 4.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per contest and was also the team’s captain ball.
The floor general was a former player of renowned University of San Agustin coach Jophil Cercado when he was still the mentor of Ateneo de Iloilo.
In an exclusive interview with coach Cercado, he shared that he guided Diaz during his elementary and high school years before agreeing to join De La Salle Zobel and Ateneo de Cebu.
Diaz also joined the past season of the JB Amateur Basketball League (JB ABL) and played for the stacked Systemic Farm Chemicals squad.
