By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eagles just lost its superstar point guard Forthsky Padrigao.
In a social media post published by Padrigao last July 31, 2023, the 21-year-old floor general confirmed that he will not be staying with the Blue Eagles basketball program and will no longer push through with his enrollment.
Padrigao has been in a rough stretch during the past two weeks after the school also revealed that he will not be suiting up for the upcoming UAAP men’s basketball season due to academic woes.
The development was confirmed by Ateneo last July 22, 2023, when the team announced that Padrigao failed to meet the school’s academic requirements.
“Forthsky Padrigao was unable to meet Ateneo de Manila University’s academic requirements in SY 2022-2023, and therefore he is not eligible to play in the upcoming UAAP Season 86,” Ateneo wrote in a team statement.
Padrigao was expected to bounce back and fix his school requirements to return in the next UAAP season but his sudden departure will leave the Blue Eagles program with another rebuilding process in their backcourt roster.
The former Ateneo Blue Eaglet was supposed to become the team’s next point guard star after improving his average numbers last season.
From an inconsistent ball-handler, the savvy Padrigao showed a huge improvement in his game and was named in the Mythical Five selection last season.
Padrigao averaged 11.6 points, 4.9 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.2 steals every contest last season and was also a runner-up for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) race.
Unfortunately, Padrigao failed to win the MVP award and was raised by UP’s star center Malick Diouf.
As of this writing, Padrigao is yet to confirm if he will be transferring to another UAAP basketball program or will head back home to take a break.
“As I sit down to write this letter, I find myself with conflicting emotions. My schedule for enrollment in Ateneo is coming up, but for the first time after six years of considering this school my home, I am struggling very hard to do it. After everything that has happened, I feel that I can’t go back anymore, and I have to say farewell,” wrote Padrigao in his Instagram post.
