Vince Carter Visit Feu Gym

[falken]

sorry OT, di ba kano yung Doug Kramer. How come puwede siya maglaro sa Admu varsity team?

Sa PBA lang bawal iyon. As long as you're a legitimate student of a certain school, di naman puwede ipagbawal kang maglaro because of your nationality. In the 80's, the FEU Tams won 2 or 3 UAAP championships with an American center by the name of Anthony Williams who was majoring in Medicine.

[BoEinG_747]

There couldn’t have been a more appropriate school for Nike endorser Vince Carter to visit than Far Eastern University (FEU) during the New Jersey Nets guard’s whirlwind one-day Manila invasion last Thursday.

FEU’s varsity is the only basketball team sponsored by Nike in the country. The Tamaraws’ uniforms were specially designed and executed in Hong Kong. So when Nike scheduled Carter to visit Manila, FEU was a logical stop.

A crowd of over 1,000 jammed the FEU gym to catch a glimpse of the National Basketball Association superhero. FEU Board member and team owner Anton Montinola saw Carter come and go in what had to be a milestone in the school’s history.

Vinsanity was evident at the FEU campus that unforgettable afternoon.

Carter, 28, was personable and accommodating. On stage, he spoke to the huge crowd and talked about his career. Then, wearing an FEU jersey, Carter engaged Tamaraws star Arwind Santos in a friendly game of horse. Instead of playing to h-o-r-s-e, they traded baskets to F-E-U.

Getting Carter to wear the FEU uniform wasn’t difficult although the shirt was a bit tight. The jersey had no name nor number but came with the usual Nike tag and barcode. Carter, of course, took it back home as a souvenir.

In their game of F-E-U, Carter and Santos kept shooting high-arching "moonballs" farther and farther away from the hoop until they decided to make it a dunking exhibition instead. Officially, the horse contest wound up a draw.

Santos tried to show up Carter by elevating for an incredible 360-degree slammer. Carter responded by throwing down his patented windmill jam. The crowd went crazy as both high-flyers traded rim-rattlers.

"Carter is obviously in a different class," said Montinola. "He dunks with a tremendous downward force and doesn’t even stretch. He’s only slightly taller than Arwind so he should be 6-6 max. His slender calves remind you of the calves of Allen Iverson and Michael Jordan who are just as explosive. The visit was a fantastic treat for everyone and I’m sure Nike was very pleased with the turnout."

Nike staff got the fans more involved by conducting a trivia contest where questions about Carter were asked and those with the correct answers got prizes. The questions weren’t easy, like in what grade in school did Carter make his first dunk and what is his shoe size. Not surprisingly, there were Carter diehards who knew the answers and brought home Nike stuff.

Montinola said if only Carter could stay, he would’ve sat behind the Tamaraws’ bench in their game against the University of the East today.

FEU totes an unblemished 7-0 record in the UAAP. Montinola said so far, it’s been a magical season for the Tamaraws.

"We’re happy Arwind decided to stay another year with us and polish his skills," said Montinola. "We expect Arwind to be the No. 1 overall draft pick in the PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) next year. Arwind is enjoying his final season and learning to be more effective at the three-spot which he’ll play in the pros. Mark Isip is exploding and Jonas Villanueva is showing what he can do. We’re playing as a team and that’s why we’re winning even if we lost Denok (Miranda). Our rookie coach Robert Flores is homegrown and now is his time to shine."

Montinola said he’ll blow up Carter’s photo wearing an FEU uniform and display it in a prominent place on campus. He’ll also display an FEU jersey he signed.

It’s noteworthy that Carter paid a visit to a school here because education means a lot to him.

Carter left the University of North Carolina early to turn pro. Although he was already making big bucks as a superstar, Carter never gave up on his dream to graduate and accumulated units whenever he could.

Finally, in May 2001, he attended the graduation ceremonies in North Carolina and walked away with a diploma confirming his degree in African-American studies.

The graduation was in the morning of a Sunday when later that night, Carter played in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinal playoffs between his former team Toronto and Philadelphia. Carter practiced with the Raptors on Saturday morning in Philadelphia, flew to North Carolina in the afternoon, attended part of the graduation rites the next morning, flew back to Philadelphia and arrived over five hours before the game. Carter had 20 points, seven rebounds, nine assists and no turnover but missed what would’ve been the clincher in the dying seconds as the 76ers beat Toronto by a hair.

Carter’s commitment to education is exemplary. That’s what made his visit to FEU, one of the country’s leading universities, even more significant.

[NightRock]

eto pa pic http://www.photos.ph/zbumatay/vcarter_in_manila