UST secures commitment of two more five-star high school recruits

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The UST Growling Tigers are finding the pieces that they need in the upcoming UAAP season after acquiring the services of two of the top high school recruits in the country.

Cebu’s juniors’ superstar and former Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. Most Valuable Player LA Casinillo and Filipino-Australian swingman Royce Mantua will be backstopping reigning UAAP MVP Soulemane Chabi Yo after Jinino Manansala’s confirmation.

“We have a long way to go and we continue to seek good replacements for the losses we suffered. Aside from our holdovers, we are mostly composed of new recruits. We will never know how far we have gone and how ready we would be until the actual games resume,” said Manansala.

Casinillo was one of the most highly-recruited players in the juniors’ division and is one of the most talented in the pool.

Meanwhile, Mantua is a tall forward standing at six-foot-four who can guard all five positions because of his mobility and length.

Mantua became a part of the Far Eastern University-Diliman Baby Tamaraws and proved he was one of the toughest defenders on the team.

Aside from the addition of Casinillo and Mantua, Jordi Gomez de Liaño also confirmed his commitment to the Growling Tigers.