That Ateneo point guard is now one of the UST Growling Tigers.

Forthsky Padrigao, who was deemed ineligible to play for the Ateneo Blue Eagles due to academic deficiencies, will be taking his talents to UST men’s basketball team for Season 88 next year, the team announced, on Saturday, Sept. 30.

"Siya ang lumapit sa amin and he said he wants to have a second chance after everything that has happened to him," UST Athletic Director Fr. Rodel Cansancio said.

"We're a Catholic school and who are we to judge someone who wants reparation?" he added.

Padrigao averaged 11 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and a season-best 2.4 steals per game, playing a key role in the Blue Eagles' championship run before bidding goodbye to Ateneo last July.

“As I sit down to write this letter, I find myself with conflicting emotions. My schedule for enrollment in Ateneo is coming up, but for the first time after six years of considering this school my home, I am struggling very hard to do it. After everything that has happened, I feel that I can’t go back anymore, and I have to say farewell,” Padrigao wrote in a social media post.

The 21-year-old guard played a total of 36 games in two seasons for the Katipunan-based squad, which have won four of the last five men’s basketball tournaments in the UAAP.

The Blue Eagles lost in the finals in Padrigao’s first year, before snagging the title last year.

BRINGING HIS PEDIGREE

Padrigao was a sought-after prospect when he was in high school. He was named Most Valuable Player in the 2018 NBA Basketball Without Borders Asia camp held in India, where he bested some of the top young prospects of his batch from New Zealand, China, Japan, and Australia.

He was also invited to the 2020 Basketball Without Borders Global Camp in that year’s NBA All-Star Weekend, but the 5-foot-11 guard declined the offer as it coincided with the UAAP Season 82 Juniors’ Final Four.

Padrigao would have been the second Filipino to participate in the global camp next to his Ateneo teammate and basketball wunderkind Kai Sotto.

Padrigao will attempt to bring that pedigree to a Tigers’ team that have recently introduced strong backers headed by Alfrancis Chua, San Miguel Sports Director and Special Assistant to the Rector for Sports.

NOT WITHOUT HIS PERSONAL BAGGAGE

During his sophomore season, Padrigao dealt with sexual abuse allegations dated back to his Senior High School years. While there is no formal case filed, calls condemning him circulated throughout social media.

Boos were hurled onto him in the Season 85 Finals, and, more infamously, in the awarding ceremony of his Mythical Team citation.

“In the past months, many conclusions were drawn about me, and I don’t take that against people, but I know in my heart I am not who they think I am. I want to take what I can from this experience and work to improve myself going forward,” Padrigao said.

“However, the past months have made this extremely difficult. I’ve kept my silence because my team needed to focus on the games, but I can’t understand how malicious the stories have become since we won, and now I have to answer even for errors I didn’t commit. That’s why attending classes has been getting harder and harder for me, and now even if I want to represent my university as an athlete, I can’t anymore,” he added.