Did you know that Filipino basketball players are already making wakes and are currently playing in the KOREAN BASKETBALL LEAGUE? Fans will get a chance to meet SJ Belangel and RJ Abarrientos and know more about these Pinoy KBL players during the Talk Show and Fan Signing Event organized by the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines this June 3!
SJ Belangel was the first Pinoy to make it to the Korean Basketball League last year. Samjosef Rasmo Belangel (born June 27, 1999) is a Filipino professional basketball player for Daegu KOGAS Pegasus of the Korean Basketball League (KBL). Earlier in his career, he made his UAAP senior debut for Ateneo Blue Eagles in Season 81 where he played for three seasons.
Meanwhile, Filipino import RJ Abarrientos was named the Rookie of the Year in the 2022-23 Korean Basketball League season. Rhon Jhay Abarrientos (born September 14, 1999) is a Filipino professional basketball player for Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus of the Korean Basketball League (KBL). He played for Far Eastern University for just one season in the seniors before moving to play at KBL.
Another one is Rhenz Joseph Mamuyac Abando, a Filipino professional basketball player for the Anyang KGC who was crowned the regular season champions of the Korean Basketball League on March 26, 2023. He used to play with the UST Growling Tigers in college. Abando took to Instagram his emotions after winning the Korean Basketball League championship with Anyang KGC, and said that road to being a KBL champion was ‘never easy’.
As the most favorite sports of Filipinos, many talented players are being scouted from their colleges to different leagues locally and internationally. Browsing on earlier reports, we saw that there were more Filipino players who have moved to Korea as part of KBL’s expansion of Asian quota system to the Philippines in the last season, according to https://m.jumpball.co.kr/.
Justin Gutang signed a one-year deal with Changwon LG this season. However the Sakers bowed out of the Korean Basketball League championship contention early on.
Fil-Am point guard, Ethan Alvano, also played for Wonju DB Promy who finished 7th this season while Seoul Samsung also signed a Filipino-Canadian Christian David as their Asian Quota player. Just like Wonju DB’s Ethan Alvano, David was not able to obtain his Philippine passport before the age of 16. Both of his parents, though, are Filipino – one of the requirements by the KBL (with references from: https://tiebreakertimes.com.ph/).
Furthermore, according to earlier reports, these Filipino imports were earning from 132 million won to 237 million won (averaging around 185.83 million won for the salaries of six Filipino players).
On June 3, fans will get to know more about these promising basketball players and may get to ask questions directly to two of them through a Talk Show and Fan Signing Event featuring SJ Belangel and RJ Abarrientos.
