High-flying forward Francis Lopez bids UP goodbye as he joins the Fighting Eagles Nagoya in the Japan B.League.
Francis Lopez will be foregoing his remaining three seasons with the UP Fighting Maroons in the UAAP as he brings his high-flying act to the Fighting Eagles Nagoya in the Japan B.League.
Lopez will now join former teammates Carl Tamayo and JD Cagulangan, as well as the Gomez de Liaño brothers Juan and Javi as the UP products playing as Asian imports in either the Japan B.League or Korean Basketball League.
The Fil-Angolan forward is expected to breathe some new life into the Fighting Eagles, who currently sit at 13th place with a 28-30 record in the current B.League season.
“Thank you to the UP Fighting Maroons and the UP Community for the wonderful two years. I will never forget it. UP Fight forever,” Lopez said in a media release by the UP Office for Athletics and Sports Development on Tuesday.
Lopez, a six-foot-six forward, now wraps up a productive two-year stay in Diliman, and will exit as the Season 86 Rookie of the Year, and as a key cog in the Fighting Maroons’ title run last Season 87.
In what turned out to be his final UAAP campaign last Season 87, Lopez averaged 10.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game for State U, and it was his dagger triple in Game 3 of the finals that helped the Fighting Maroons hoist its second title in the past four tournaments.
Lopez’s departure for the B.League no doubt will be a major blow to UP’s title defense campaign, with the Diliman-based squad already losing Cagulangan and one-and-done center Quentin Millora-Brown after they exhausted their eligibility following Season 87.
State U will lose a naturally-athletic forward in Lopez, who has used this gift to be a highly capable defender and slasher throughout his two-season stint as a Fighting Maroon.
More than the talent that Lopez brings to the table, it’s also a huge loss to their current forward rotation, with Aldous Torculas earlier departing for San Beda in the NCAA in the hopes of getting more playing time under head coach Yuri Escueta.
UP-OASD director Bo Perasol, though, believes that Lopez’s move is a testament to the program they are building within Diliman.
“’Di tayo dapat malungkot dahil nakaka-proud itong gagawin ni Francis. He’s the latest proof that what we do works and our student-athletes give pride to the UP community,” said Perasol.
But while Francis Lopez will be taking his talents to Japan, expected to remain in UP to spearhead State U’s Season 88 run be former Nazareth School-NU guards Gerry Abadiano, Harold Alarcon, and Terrence Fortea, to go along with a debuting Rey Remogat, and incoming sophomore Jacob Bayla. Also expected to join for Season 88 will be the likes of LA Andres, Miguel Yniguez, and a possible new foreign student athlete in Francis Nnoruka.
As another testament to their deep talent pool, the Fighting Maroons are also fielding two teams in the ongoing PinoyLiga Collegiate Cup, with Lopez being part of the “UP1” team that includes holdovers such as Janjan Felicilda, Reyland Torres, Mark Belmonte, Dikachi Ududo, and another potential Season 88 debutant in Joshua Coronel.
Banner images taken by Kieran Punay from KLIQ Inc.