By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
A familiar face will be making his return when the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) import-laced conference kicks off.
Aaron Fuller, an energetic big man who can crash the boards and provide tons of second-chance points for any team, agreed to a deal with the Rain or Shine Elastopainters and is set to bolster the franchise for the PBA Season 49 Governor’s Cup.
Fuller made his debut in the PBA when he suited up as an import for the NLEX Road Warriors during the 2016-2017 season.
The former member of the USC Trojans was nothing but spectacular despite playing for the first time in the PBA after averaging 22.64 points, 17 rebounds, and 1.55 blocks in 11 total games played.
After that brief stint, Fuller returned to the PBA and played again for the Road Warriors during the 2017-2018 season.
Aside from his talent, Rain or Shine’s head coach Yeng Guiao opted to bring in Fuller due to the familiarity with his system when he coached the big man in his two stints in the PBA.
Fuller will be making a highly-anticipated reunion with Guiao, but this time, wearing a different jersey and playing for a different franchise.
However, unlike at NLEX where he was surrounded by veterans, Fuller will be handed the tough task of taking on a leadership role for the young Rain or Shine team.
For the past two seasons, the Elastopainters loaded its roster with younger talents and added more youth after drafting Caelan Tiongson, Francis Escandor, and Felix Lemmeti.
Fuller will also be playing with his old foes, Beau Belga and Gabe Norwood, who he was used to going up against when he was still in NLEX.
