EXPRESSING his desire to be at his best for the national team pool, Javi Gomez de Liano is sitting out the upcoming UAAP season.
The 6-foot-4 forward has already talked to the University of the Philippines management and the NoweheretogobutUP Foundation of his plans to skip this year's campaign with the Fighting Maroons.
Gomez de Liano, however, clarified that he's not leaving the Diliman school altogether.
"I'm skipping Season 83 not bidding UP farewell. Those are two different things," he said, keeping that window open for a return for his fifth playing year.
"I'm still open to returning if things work well."
The 21-year-old Gomez de Liano has found his niche in UP as a spot-up shooter, averaging 10.5 points per game on a 35-percent shooting from deep.
That stellar play led to him earning a call-up in the 24-man Gilas Pilipinas pool for the February window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers.
Gomez de Liano is also set to see action with the MPBL’s Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards, where he'll be reunited with coach Charles Tiu, his mentor with Mighty Sports in the recently concluded 2020 Dubai International Basketball Tournament.
With Javi gone, all eyes now turn to his brother Juan, who still has two playing years left.
The Gomez de Liano brothers have previously hinted on their potential departure after UP's exit at the hands of University of Santo Tomas in the stepladder semis, where it squandered a twice-to-beat advantage as the No. 2 seed.
Source: Spin PH
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