By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel just secured its recent PBA Rookie Draft lottery pick RJ Abarrientos to a three-year contract announced on July 29, 2024.
In a social media post, the dynamic and combo guard was together with San Miguel Corporation (SMC) sports director Alfrancis Chua who was present during their contract signing at the SMC headquarters.
Abarrientos, who was coming off a stellar campaign with the Strong Group-Pilipinas squad that took the gold medal during the William Jones Cup, watched the drafting ceremony in Taiwan as they were still playing the preliminary phase when the picking took place.
It didn’t take a long time for the former Far Eastern University (FEU) stalwart to celebrate after he was chosen as the third overall pick by the Gin Kings in the first round.
During their championship game against Chinese-Taipei, Abarrientos put on a clutch shooting performance, contributing 14 points derived from four three-pointers.
A week after his brilliance in Taiwan, the Gin Kings opted to sign him until 2027 and is expected to bring everything to the table to help Ginebra get back to their winning ways.
He was a vital member of the Gilas Pilipinas squad that swept Korea during the FIBA Asia Qualifiers a few years ago.
Besides that memorable campaign, Abarrientos was also part of the official Gilas roster that nearly upset the talented Serbian national team in the last edition of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).
Abarrientos began his overseas pro journey in Korea, where he won the 2022-2023 KBL Rookie of the Year on March 30, 2023.
The former Gilas Pilipinas men’s national basketball team point guard boosted his chances of winning the prestigious award after helping the Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus clinch a playoff qualification.
Abarrientos made an immediate impact on Ulsan despite playing as a young rookie floor general, averaging 13.6 points, 4.8 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.4 steals during his 51-game stretch with the KBL club.
However, he decided to part ways with Ulsan and brought his talent to Japan, signing a contract with the Shinshu basketball club.
