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Aljun Melecio will be leaving De La Salle University to run for the next PBA Rookie Draft.
The former UAAP Rookie of the Year made the announcement in an Instagram post on Wednesday, just hours before the March 14 filing deadline for rookie procedures.
“There are some things in life that we cannot control, and this was one of them. This was not the ending I expected for my time playing for the greens and whites. Being the captain of the team in my last year as a player, Almost no he let it go, but there are some tough but important decisions we have to make, “the 22-year-old guard wrote.
“This is a painful announcement, but it’s one I have to make: I’m entering the 2021 PBA Draft.”
The 5-foot-9 guard was a fundamental offensive piece for the Green Archers in season 82, averaging 10.7 points on 38.8 percent shooting, 3.7 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 0.9 steals in 25 minutes and 14 games.
Melecio took the rookie plum of UAAP season 79 the same year he helped the Green Archers win the men’s basketball title.
His announcement comes after the news that his partner Justine Baltazar will skip the draft and stay one more year at La Salle.
Green Archers head coach Derick Pumaren told ESPN5.com on Wednesday that the 6-foot-7 center conveyed his decision to team management Tuesday night.
“He told me last night that he is still staying to finish his senior year,” he said in a text message.
Baltazar, considered the best center in the university today, will continue to be La Salle’s focal point once action resumes in season 84 later this year.
“With him around, we will have a great veteran who can coach and teach my young team,” Pumaren said.
The 23-year-old center averaged 15.1 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 blocks UAAP Season 82 to earn a spot in the league’s Mythical Five.
Baltazar then saw action for the Gilas Pilipinas team that swept Thailand in the second window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers and scored 7.0 points on 40 percent shooting, 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.5 blocks in 22.3 minutes per game.
At the moment, Baltazar is training with the rest of the Gilas core inside the bubble at Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna in hopes of landing a spot on the list for the third and final window next month.
Baltazar, also a member of the San Juan team that won the 2019 Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Datu Cup, joins Javi Gómez de Liaño as the only cadets to skip the draft to play their final UAAP season.
Groupmates Calvin Oftana, Jaydee Tungcab and William Navarro had previously submitted their applications to the PBA.
