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The lineup of the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers lost some of its luster after its prized Fil-Am rookie wingman Rene Saycon was denied eligibility in the upcoming basketball tournament of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) during the screening of the final lineups yesterday at the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF).
Saycon, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard originally from Hawaii but is coming from the Asian College of Science and Technology-Dumaguete, was touted to be the yin to the yang of UV's dominant big man, Greg Slaughter, in their bid for an unprecedented ninth straight title.
However, it was found out yesterday that he lacked the necessary academic requirements needed to play in the upcoming season, which is slated to start on Aug. 1.
The news is a dampening one for the Green Lancers especially after losing star guard Von Lanete to the PBL in the offseason while another wingman, Harlow Villanil, is still in sick bay because of an ACL injury.
Head coach Elmer Cabahug, though, downplayed Saycon's absence as he still has several other weapons in their arsenal.
“It is not a very big factor. (Ralf) Olivarez and (Christian) Rez will likely fill the gap. Well, every player has their own opportunity and that was not taken away from him because of his grades. However, we can't do anything about that. That is all up to him,” said Cabahug, whose team will have four rookies in Olivarez, former University of Cebu (UC) big man Rez along with Johann Quintana and Marl Senires.
USPF forward JR Gulane will also not be seeing action this season after it was found out that he was over the age limit. The title-retention bid of the University of Cebu (UC) Baby Webmasters also suffered a big blow after their star forward Roger Pogoy was denied eligibility because of age issues.
Meanwhile, the title contenders in the seniors division are slowly stocking up on their young players with several exciting rookies slated to see action this season.
Last year's runners-up University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) will have seven rookies in their fold while the UC Webmasters will have six. The Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras have four neophytes on their team.
