Top 5 Underrated UAAP Players of the 2010s

The 2010s started off with the Ateneo Blue Eagles winning their third straight University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) championship under Coach Norman Black. That was championship number three of the total five championships that Ateneo would win under Black. All in all, the blue and white team won six championships in seven finals appearances and the Tab Baldwin-mentored Ateneo side is looking to do the same as they are still the favorites to win the championship come Season 83. But looking back at the last decade, many players stood up and went on to have decorated careers in the professional ranks but not all were given the chance to show more of their respective games.

First off on this list of underrated players of the last decade in the UAAP is Aldrech Ramos who played but failed to win a championship for the Far Eastern University Tamaraws. The fact that he finished third in the race for the Most Valuable Player award back in his third year in the collegiate ranks just showed that even back then, Ramos is capable to help his team win games. Aldrech Ramos was one of the first "stretched" forwards of that decade and the second coming of another FEU legend in Arwind Santos. Ramos can play both forward positions at such an ease that even natural power forwards are having a hard time defending him owing to the fact that he can shoot three-pointers. However, Ramos didn't win a championship with FEU but made the Mystical Team twice in his UAAP career. 

If there's one player who some fans used to underestimate, it's Ryan Buenafe- Finals MVP of Season 73. Remember his bombastic trey against the FEU Tamaraws in Game 2 of the UAAP Finals? That moment cemented his place in the heart of the Ateneo fans as it capped off Ateneo's three-peat back then. But why is he underrated?

For one, Bunafe was shooting seven percent from the three-point that season and gaining weight which made it harder for him to drive to the lane and take that driving lay-up he was accustomed to.  And for another, he was in the team four of the five times Ateneo won it all under Norman Black proved that he helped the team reach the top of the hill. He also won the Rookie of the Year award in 2008 and was in the All-Rookie Team. Still, he was one of those collegiate stars whose value tended to be underestimated by people.

In 2007, the University of the East Red Warriors swept the elimination rounds of the UAAP and went straight to the UAAP Finals. That UE had Mark Borboran, Marcy Arellano, Bonbon Custodio, and Elmer Espiritu. They were coached by Dindo Pumaren. Who was one of the league's best point guards back then? James Martinez.

Martinez was hailed as one of UE's last best recruits of the decade and many pundits have themselves thinking that Martinez could be the second coming of Jimmy Alapag. After all, Alapag and Martinez both played the point guard spot and are known for their abilities to make it rain from deep. However, Martin never got to show his thing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). But the good news is that he is making a name for himself in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). 

If there's another player whose numbers weren't speaking for themselves but almost won a title in his collegiate career, that guy is Jeric Teng who played for the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers. The fact that he normed 13 points per game in his final three years in Espana while taking 12 shots on the average wasn't something that stopped the former King Tiger from taking and even making some of the best clutch baskets in the history of the UST basketball program. And if you remember back in Season 76, Jeric Teng was playing through a shoulder injury and was pitted against his brother, Jeron and the De La Salle Green Archers in the Finals. Jeron may have won the championship but that doesn't take away anything from Jeric Teng. He played it with the heart of a tiger.

Speaking of the Green Archers, they may have won the title in 2013 but many pundits now saw the value of one LA Revilla for that La Salle and had Revilla stayed put in 2014, La Sale would have won three championships in the past decade instead of only two.

For starters, LA Revilla was forced to miss two seasons after being diagnosed with Type Two Diabetes on top of the injuries that hit him along the way but that didn't stop him Revilla would later become La Salle's top gunner for Season 74 and even led the UAAP in steals per game at 1.8 steals a contest. 

The 2010s saw the UAAP produced some of today's best players in Philippine basketball but there were many players in that period who have been underestimated due to different circumstances. 

They may be underrated but they can play ball as we've seen them do in the past decade. 

Photo is from ABS CBN Sports