DAVON Potts will be following heralded footsteps after first helping the San Beda Red Lions win the National Collegiate Athletic Association senior basketball crown before going on to join the Alaska Aces in the Philippine Basketball Association.
Before Potts Calvin Abueva also needed to complete his NCAA stint (with the San Sebastian College Stags) before joining Alaska. Selected second overall in the 2012 PBA Draft Abueva missed Alaska’s first three games in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Abueva eventually helped the Aces win the 2013 Commissioner’s Cup title and also won that season’s Rookie of the Year Award.
a pair of Letran College Knights defenders. Jamil Buergo
Potts was drafted by Alaska in the second round at eighteenth overall. Unlike Abueva who failed to win the NCAA crown in his final year in college Potts helped the Red Lions go all the way. Potts played an instrumental role in the finals as he averaged 15.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists in the Finals.
Potts is a proven winner. Not only did he help San Beda win back-to-back NCAA crowns he also led Cignal to two PBA D-League championships.
Projected as a high pick in the first round Potts somehow dropped all the way to eighteenth overall in the draft. Potts says he’s used to being underestimated. However, he only uses this as fuel to work harder and do better.
“I use that as motivation a lot. They doubt me but I always use that as fire from day one. I always loved that and used that as fire to prove everybody wrong,” said Potts in a published report.
While the Fil-Am guard was San Beda’s main man last year under coach Jamike Jarin he didn’t get as much playing time (at least in the elimination round) under new coach Boyet Fernandez.
This may have been by design because his increased contribution in the crucial playoffs against the Lyceum University Pirates was enough to tilt the balance in favor of the defending champion Red Lions. Potts has shown that he can help teams win basketball crowns. He will be an asset to the Aces who will be gunning for their 15the title this coming PBA season.
But can Potts truly follow in the footsteps of Abueva and help Alaska win a title in his first season with the team? Only time can tell.