MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Blue Eagles rookie Hubert Cani says that news of him planning to transfer out of Ateneo de Manila University is not true.
Cani told Rappler on Thursday evening, November 12, that he doesn’t plan to transfer out of the university and doesn’t know where the report of his leaving stemmed from.
In an article published by Spin.ph, it was reported that Cani and his father, Jon-jon, have been unhappy with the playing time Cani has received in his first season, and that the collegiate point guard may look to move to De La Salle University.
“Hindi ko alam kung saan nang galing yan,” Cani told Rappler.
(I don’t know where that came from.)
“Nananahimik na nga lang kami nang family ko, tapos may ganyang issue pa,” he said.
(Me and my family have already been quiet, and yet there are still such issues.)
Rappler also reached out to Cani’s father Jon-jon, who said that the news is “false” and that someone could just be trying to mess with Ateneo.
"We are quite ashamed of what transpired, we do not have bigger heads now that we are with Ateneo since we owe the school a lot. We are lucky and blessed since they have been treating our son very well." Jon-jon Cani said in a statement.
So far this season, Cani’s averaged just 6.2 minutes a game and has recorded a total of only 6 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists in 12 games, going 3-of-24 from the field.
“Hindi po totoo yon (it’s not true),” Cani said about him transferring. “Baka may naninira lang po saamin. Basta, focus muna po kami this season po,” said Cani.
(Maybe someone’s just trying to attack us. Right now, I’m just focused on the season.)
“Staying patient lang,” said the former NU Bullpup about his lack of playing time so far. “Focused lang kami this season,” he said.
"For the first 4 games, we really felt bad but we realized that the guard rotation has been effective enough to win games and we're honestly happy and supportive with how things are as part of the team," Cani's father said about his son's playing time in the statement.
"I am making this statement since we are in shock why this write up came out. Maybe to create road bumps in the swift system that Ateneo is running. Sad part is that we were targeted and used to destroy the current momentum that team has," said Jon-jon.
Check out his entire statement below:
{source}
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here's the statement of Jon-Jon Cani, the father of Hubert, re: rumors of him transferring out of Ateneo <a href="https://t.co/WVsbeObQKV">pic.twitter.com/WVsbeObQKV</a></p>— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) <a href="https://twitter.com/naveenganglani/status/664826530401415168">November 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> {/source}
According to Ateneo team manager Epok Quimpo, he will talk to Cani tomorrow. Cani's father said that he will also talk to Quimpo to clear things out.
Cani sat out all of the 2014 UAAP season due to residency after transferring from NU’s high school program - a rule that’s no longer followed.
The young athlete is considered by pundits as one of the team’s key pieces for the future, along with Arvin Tolentino, Thirdy Ravena, the Nieto brothers, Jerie Pingoy, Aaron Black, and Adrian Wong.
In the event Cani does transfer, he would have to sit down another season due to residency rules for transferees.
The Blue Eagles are currently riding a 5-game winning streak and stand as the third seed in the UAAP standings with a 9-4 record. They still have a shot at gaining a twice-to-beat seed, but would first have to win their remaining game against UE to get close to that. – Rappler.com