THOUGHTS | THE NCAA S101 AWARDS

In a sea of red and blue, you’d think one of these sides would have been shocked if their guy didn’t walk away with the NCAA MVP. Turns out, there was another color they probably should’ve worried about.

It's green.

Benilde green.

And yes, I say this as a long-time Allen Liwag fan dating back to his EAC Generals days.

I was genuinely surprised that either Letran’s Titing Manalili or San Beda’s Janti Miller didn’t take home the Rookie MVP. Both delivered monster numbers despite their age and relative inexperience. Manalili, in particular, never missed a game and somehow led a roster stacked with veterans and pro-bound talent from an 0–3 start all the way to the NCAA Finals. Miller’s case isn’t far off either. He brought a US basketball pedigree, put up monster scoring numbers, and helped guide San Beda to its 24th championship as well.

That said, Liwag was also instrumental in getting the Benilde Blazers to the Final Four. Still, it’s hard to ignore that he missed six of Benilde’s 18 games due to injury and had a relatively quiet offensive stretch that coincided with their Finals loss to the Red Lions. Maybe Benilde would have had a better standing if they had his injury-free version.

That’s probably where the debate really begins. Maybe the NCAA was wary of “spamming” the Rookie MVP distinction. And maybe there’s also truth to the chatter about Miller possibly moving to the UAAP. Especially with how he sat out Game 2 of the Finals, I don't think Miller is far from being cool about this.

What is wild is that every player named to the Mythical Five still has a year of college eligibility left.

Manalili did walk away with Rookie of the Year, nearly matching the feat of former Letran Knight and current KBL import—and Gilas Pilipinas mainstay—Rhenz Abando.

There are three freshmen who made the Mythical First Team. Jhuniel Dela Rama, Manalili’s former Letran Squires teammate, was also named Defensive Player of the Year. He has the build of a small forward, yet led the league in rebounds, which is just absurd.

He is joined in the All-Defensive Team by JRU’s Ivan Panapanaan, Mapua’s Cyrus Nitura, Liwag, and Letran big man Kevin Santos.

Santos is also the other player in the Mythical First Team, and a Liwag-versus-Santos showdown in Season 102 already feels like must-watch basketball.

Elsewhere, Arellano’s Renzo Abiera quietly made one of the biggest jumps in the league, winning the season's Most Improved Player award, going from 5.5 points and 1.5 rebounds per game in Season 100 to 10.7 and 2.7 in Season 101. In some ways, it feels fitting that at least one Chief earned recognition, especially since T-MC Ongotan probably deserved an award of his own for what he did with that program.

Of course, there were omissions. The Perpetual trio of Cedrick Abis, Mark Gojo Cruz, and Patrick Sleat stood out, as did Finals headliners Bryan Sajonia and Jimboy Estrada. If there were a Mythical Second Team, all of them would be on my list.

So aside from Liwag winning back-to-back MVPs—the first to do so since Allwell Oraeme in Season 92—I don’t really question the names on the awards list. I just can’t shake the thought that Liwag missing a third of Benilde’s games, while Manalili and Miller both led Finals-bound teams, should have weighed more heavily in the MVP conversation.

That said, this debate is probably what makes this season worth remembering.