The "Other" Ginebra Big Man

Ginebra has another big man in tow
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

The first time I saw JayR Reyes, now of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, was at the 3rd year high school prom of one of my exes. The first thing everyone noticed was how insanely tall the guy was as compared to the rest of the evening’s escorts/ dates (myself included and back then I stood a lanky 5”10). From then on I decided to keep an eye out for the guy in case he makes it big in the sport that I love (because, in a world of sports blogger hopefuls, who doesn't).

Because, really now, how many 6”5 and up high school kids living in Manila back in the day were not part of some basketball program?

The next time I heard about Reyes, or got to see him play was when he suited up for the U.P. Fighting Maroons. He was raw as hell, but was in pretty good, athletic shape for a guy his size. He could run with the forwards so that’s a plus moving forward to a possible career in the professional ranks.