By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Converge FiberXers will be sticking to veteran small forward Kevin Racal as one of their key glue guys after the management rewarded him with a new contract extension good for two years.
Everything was made possible last April 18, 2023, when Converge announced that they will be keeping one of their leaders followed by a photo op together with head coach Aldin Ayo, team manager Jacob Lao, and executive Danny Espiritu.
However, specific details including trade clauses and off-season options are yet to be disclosed in the contract.
Racal, who was a hold-over when the Converge franchise took over the ownership from the Alaska Aces, continued to put up numbers for the team and slowly made the FiberXers’ rotation when he finally received the green light to play full blast after his injuries healed up.
The two-way player is also one of the most trusted personnel of head coach Ayo and is one of his stars when he led the Colegio de San Juan de Letran to an NCAA championship title last 2015.
Before getting eliminated in the ongoing PBA Governor’s Cup, Racal was balling out for the FiberXers and is still a deadly three-point shooter.
After five games of inconsistent playing time, Racal formally cracked into the second unit when his defensive efficiency rose as well as his three-point percentage.
Racal would then resurrect his chemistry with Jeron Teng and rekindled their Alaska heydays when they would run the break together wearing the Converge uniform.
Aside from keeping Racal, the Converge franchise already made huge off-season acquisitions in their quest for a PBA post-season success.
Several days ago, the FiberXers sent big man Abu Tratter and high-flying swingman Dave Murrell to the Magnolia Hotshots in exchange for a 2023 first-round rookie pick and two-way shooting guard Adrian Wong.
