By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
After a stellar journey as a part of the Gilas Pilipinas men’s squad in the 2021 FIBA Asia qualifiers, Javi Gomez de Liaño joins Thirdy Ravena and his brother Juan after signing a contract in the Japan B. League.
Javi confirmed that he already sealed a deal with the Division 1 team Ibaraki Robots, one of the toughest teams in the Japanese league.
Weeks after his brother Juan finalized his contract with the Earthfriends Tokyo Z, Javi was also contacted by the Robots and talks moved quickly.
“When I got back home from the Clark bubble of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, Juan got a contract with Earthfriends Tokyo. That kind of paved the way for me because they knew that me and Juan’s situation, puwede na sa Japan. Since even if we are dual citizens, we played for the national team. As soon as Juan signed that, there were a couple of teams that messaged me,” Javi shared in an interview with Tiebreaker Times.
However, Javi’s decision of flying to Japan meant he will forego his final playing year with the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons.
Months ago, Javi, Kobe Paras, Bright Akhuetie, and Ricci Rivero had been talking about bringing back the long-awaited UAAP title to UP but things changed after Paras flew to US and participated in a long-term skills camp while Javi is heading to Japan.
“I’m the type of guy that is 100-percent committed to my teams. I think that I’m going to stay in Japan for one year for the season. I want to fully commit myself to them for giving me this opportunity to play. I want to show them that they made the right choice in signing me,” Javi added.
