Former University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tiger Allein Maliksi on Thursday looked back on his collegiate career amid controversies hounding the university’s current men’s basketball squad.
“Scholarship at makalaro lang, all good na kami,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
Maliksi was a member of the UST Growling Tigers from 2008 to 2010.
In his post, Maliksi recalled how he and his teammates did not ask for much during their varsity days.
“Siomai rice lang recovery meal na. Gusto mo footlong na madaming gravy. Or adobo na kasing labnaw ng sinigang may pawis pa ni Mariong pilay ang sabaw,” he said.
A report by The Varsitarian said players of UST complained about poor food and living conditions during their stay in Sorsogon for training.
Maliksi said that during his time, they had no problems living in non-airconditioned dormitories in college.
“Dorm namin walang aircon. Lahat ng usok ng España masinghot mo. Kami pa magcocollect ng basura ng mga bulok na pagkain at maglinis ng public CR. Basta makalaro lang at makagraduate, ayos na,” he said.
“Namura na ako ng coach ko. Nasigawan, nasampal, nabatukan, na-combo pa dati. Ayun madami ako natutunan at naabot ko PBA dream ko. Wala lang share ko lang, sarap at saya ng experience namin na ‘yun e,” he added.
The training camp the Growling Tigers squad attended in Sorsogon has been the root of multiple controversies including CJ Cansino’s sudden transfer to the University of the Philippines, disputes between players and coaches and shake-ups within UST’s athletics program. John Ezekiel Hirro