La Salle Zobel’s Jun Melecio commits to UST Tigers

MANILA, Philippines – De La Salle Zobel basketball prospect Jun Melecio has committed to join the UST Growling Tigers for his collegiate career, he confirmed to Rappler on Thursday, April 13.

Jun, the younger brother of former UAAP Rookie of the Year and champion Aljun Melecio, is eligible beginning UAAP Season 86 late this year and will have a maximum of five playing years. 

The 6-foot guard averaged 8.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal on 35% shooting per game in his senior UAAP high school campaign this year. 

Melecio, 18, said he initially hoped to follow his brother’s footsteps and play for the Green Archers, but chose UST instead when he realized there could be more playing time for him in España. 

“Sa La Salle dapat talaga gusto ng heart ko pero yung La Salle din kasi masyado madami yung seniors na ka-position ko,” Melecio said in an exclusive interview.

“Sa UST naman at least mas bigger yung chance na mas makakalaro, so leap of faith na lang.”

(My heart really wants to go to La Salle but there are too many seniors playing my position. In UST, I have a bigger chance to play, so it’s a leap of faith.)

The road for Melecio to join UST began with a training invite from assistant coach Jeric Fortuna, who coincidentally was also a former De La Salle Zobel standout who played his college career with the Growling Tigers.

“After one training, they asked me to return. After a few practices, coach Pido Jarencio asked what my plans are and what school I plan to attend,” Melecio shared.

It was when Melecio trained with DLSU after an invite from assistant coach Gian Nazario that he realized he would get more exposure wearing a UST jersey, thus paving the way for his decision.

“I trained there and I realized I’ll have a better chance to play in UST,” he said.

Melecio shared that he’s feeling right at home with the Growling Tigers, already building a bond with the team’s notable new recruits such as SJ Moore, Gabriel Obusan, and Peter Osang.

“We’re getting close,” he said. “We practice everyday with Team A. We always see each other, we do weights together. We’re getting close.”

Melecio said he also likes the “brotherhood” culture in UST.

He’s aware there will be comparisons to his brother Aljun, who was a respected scorer in the collegiate ranks and now plays for Converge in the PBA.

But Jun is instead focusing on his daily work with UST, training Mondays to Saturdays, six hours per day.

“It’s really hard work. Day in, day out, as in we do the same things everyday,” he said, later adding: “Kahit may pressure… laro lang ako nang laro (Even if there’s pressure, we just keep on playing).”

 Mark Llemit stays in UST

The Tigers also secured another recruit in Mark Llemit, who led the UST juniors team to the Final Four of UAAP high school basketball action.

The 6-foot-3 winger from Laak, Davao de Oro averaged 16.27 points, 8.27 rebounds, 2.73 assists, and 2.53 steals in 28 minutes to place 19th in the NBTC high school rankings while also steering UST to the Division 1 semifinals in the Smart-NBTC National Finals.

“Sobrang excited ako kasi dito ako nagsimula (I’m really excited because this is where I started),” said the 18-year-old Llemit, who follows the footsteps of Kevin Ferrer, CJ Cansino, and Mark Nonoy as former Tiger Cubs who progressed to the seniors division.

Jarencio said he’s looking forward to have the two new rookies on board. 

“Mas lalalim yung guard rotation namin at mas titindi yung competition dito (We’ll have a deeper guard rotation, so competition will be even better),” said Jarencio. – Rappler.com