MANILA – Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles recruit Dwight Ramos has agreed to play for the Toyama Grouses in Japan’s B. League.
The 6-foot-4 Gilas Pilipinas mainstay will serve as the Asian Quota Player for the Division 1 Grouses in the next 2021-2022 season, which begins on Oct. 4.
According to his agent Titan Sports Management, Ramos finalized his deal with the Grouses in late August after acquiring his Japanese visa.
The departure of the Filipino-American cager will be a significant loss to the Blue Eagles, as he is viewed as a key player in the school’s title defense bid in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 84 next year.
Ramos was recruited by Blue Eagles head coach Thomas Baldwin in 2019 after spending his early collegiate years with National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1 Cal State Fullerton and Division 2 Cal Poly Pomona.
He competed as a member of the Blue Eagles team in the 2019 Jesuit Athletic Meet and the 2020 Philippine Collegiate Champions League.
He is still eligible to play for the squad for two years and was scheduled to play last year before the UAAP was suspended due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
Ramos competed for the country’s men’s basketball team in the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, averaging 13.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.0 steals per game.
He is the eighth Filipino to play in the B.League after Ilonggos Thirdy Ravena (San-En NeoPhoenix) and Kiefer Ravena (Shiga Lakestars), Juan Gomez de Liano (Earthfriends Tokyo Z), Bobby Ray Parks Jr. (Nagoya Diamond Dolphins), Javi Gomez de Liano (Ibaraki Robots), Kemark Carino (Aomori Wat’s), and Kobe Paras (Niigata Albirex BB)./PN
