Juan GDL finds new Asia home, signs with Surabaya Vikings Warriors

MANILA, Philippines – Juan Gomez de Liaño takes his talents from Japan to Indonesia as he signed with the Surabaya BBM Vikings Warriors in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) on Wednesday, April 13.

The team formerly known as the CLS Knights announced the development on their social media pages, welcoming the former Asia import of the Japan B. League’s Earthfriends Tokyo Z.

This will be another fresh start for the well-traveled 22-year-old guard, who averaged 5.3 points, 2.5 assists, and 2.2 rebounds in 16.6 minutes over just 17 appearances in his pro league debut in Japan.

However, the numbers don’t show the inconsistency Gomez de Liaño was subjected to in his time with the Earthfriends. There would be stretches where his minutes would jump from around 20 to less than 5, then back up again.

Eventually, the former UP star was deactivated by his team amid the league’s late 2021 COVID surge, and was then released last January 18.

Since then, he kept busy by joining Gilas Pilipinas for the 2023 FIBA World Cup second Asia qualifying window in late February, before taking his talents to the rebooted ABL, which is marking its first stint of mid-pandemic operations following a 2020 hiatus.

This will be Gomez de Liaño’s third pro league after stints with Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 and the B. League.

He will also play for Philippine team Platinum Karaoke in ABL 3×3 before jumping back to five-on-five with Surabaya. – Rappler.com