UST nets Jun Melecio, retains services of Mark Llemit
Rob Andrew Dongiapon
The Growling Tigers are not to be outdone.
Continuing their hunt to revive lost hoops glory, the UST Growling Tigers have netted the services of UAAP Juniors basketball standouts Mark Llemit and Jun Melecio, sources told TomasinoWeb, on April 13, Thursday.
The two played huge roles for their respective high school basketball squads, with Llemit steering UST to its first final four appearance in five years, while Melecio was a solid contributor with the De La Salle-Zobel (DLSZ).
Llemit, who is an 18-year-old wing standing at six-foot-three, normed impressive numbers across the board, tallying 16.27 points, 8.27 boards, 2.73 assists, and 2.53 steals in Season 85 for the Tiger Cubs.
His move was reminiscent of the likes of CJ Cansino, Mark Nonoy, and Kevin Ferrer, who moved up from the juniors team of the España-based crew to the seniors squad.
With his brilliance in the past junior basketball season, Llemit was ranked 19th in the National Basketball Training Center’s (NBTC) ranking of the best high school players in the country.
On the other hand, Melecio — the younger brother of former DLSU standout and UAAP rookie of the year Aljun Melecio — averaged 8.46 points, 2.85 rebounds, 2.15 assists, and 1.23 steals in his run with the DLSZ’s Junior Archers in the previous season.
Melecio is a six-foot guard that can provide some scoring production and facilitation for the Growling Tigers, which currently lacks some manpower depth in the backcourt after CEU guard Franz Diaz’s transfer fell through.
Melencio was also the first player since Kean Baclaan in 2021 who transferred from DLSZ to the UST seniors team.
Llemit and Melencio will have full five-year eligibility and play in the upcoming Season 86 UAAP basketball season.
The two joined UST’s solid pickups this season, which includes NCAA juniors standout SJ Moore, Fil-Americans Chase Lane and Gabriel Obusan, and NCAA senior wings Rhayyan Amsali and James Una.
