But he was not alone in that pursuit. His father and his siblings all wanted to play basketball at the highest level. So they pushed and helped each other improve, and eventually it paid dividends when Jed was selected in the recently-concluded PBA Draft. Kaso ako lang yung nabigyan ng opportunity na magpatuloy sa pangarap namin. Kaya ang pamilya ko ang nagsisilbing motivation ko araw-araw. Hindi ko lang pangarap ito, pero pangarap din ito ng buong pamilya ko.
Before he was selected in the draft, Jed was a star in the collegiate ranks for a long time. He revealed that three UAAP schools reached out to him, but a number of personal reasons eventually led him to the doorsteps of the University of the East Red Warriors. I just found out about it after ng graduation ko sa JRU. Alam naman natin na pagdating sa amateur ranks, UAAP offers the biggest opportunity and exposure.
May tatlong UAAP teams na tumawag sa akin to express their interest in recruiting me. Due to personal reasons, I decided that playing for UE would be a better choice for me.
The most common take out there is that basketball is more competitive in UAAP. Mas mahirap lang sa UAAP ngayon kasi may mga imports pa. Sa NCAA kasi ipinagbawal na nila ang imports. Pero in terms of physicality and competition, almost the same lang naman. Ang pinagkaiba nila ay mas budgeted at mas maraming sponsors sa UAAP. Mas lamang talaga ang UAAP in terms of exposure sa media at sa dami ng sponsors na nag-iinvest para sa liga.
Sa NCAA kasi limited lang talaga yung financial support na nabibigay nila. Nagkakatalo lang sa exposure and sponsorship na galing sa mga companies. Throughout the several years that he played in the collegiate ranks, Jed admits that he has battled with and against many players who are more skilled than him. This challenge forced him to lean on honing two assets that he deems to be of utmost importance: Discipline and Attitude. Kaso nag-pabaya sila at nawalan ng disiplina.
