Any career move will be good for Tiu

MANILA, Philippines - With Gilas 2 already out of the equation for him, former national cager and newly named Sports5 basketball ambassador Chris Tiu is entertaining two career options at his ripe age of 27.

One is to turn pro, like any player of his caliber should. The other is attend to his businesses full-time, like any astute young man like him would.

“It’s now or never. If I don’t join the PBA draft this year, that’s it for me,” Tiu said during his launch as the latest addition to the roster of Sports5 ambassadors Wednesday night.

The 6-foot Tiu has been shunning the lures of the pros for years, preferring to concentrate on his national team duties. His non-inclusion in the first team of the current Gilas 2 program apparently left him with only two choices.

“Right now it’s 60-40 in favor of basketball for me but I’m still deciding. By Wednesday next week I shall be making my decision,” he said.

Tiu is agonizing about such decision, especially with deadline for the submission of applications for homegrown rookies coming on Aug. 3.

“I definitely want to continue playing basketball because it’s a fun game, it’s my passion, and I want to play in a very high level like the PBA,” he said. 

“Also I’d feel very guilty if I turn my back on the game at this point when people want to see me play, appreciate what I can do on the court and my ability to inspire the youth to study hard and get into sports.”

On the other hand, he wants to put his business acumen to good use. Tiu earned degrees in Bachelor of Science in Management Engineering and Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics at Ateneo and has been involved in food and beverage businesses.

“I also want to really immerse myself more in business whether with my family or by myself. If I play basketball for a few years, I’d definitely be left behind in terms of learning and experience, compared to my batchmates at Ateneo who’ve been working for how many years already,” he said.

Tiu will be seen on an instructional segment called 1-on-1 Tiu-torials which will air on AKTV on IBC 13, the premier sports channel on free TV, and on HYPER, the 24/7 sports channel of Sports5.

“I’m very excited with this project. Basketball’s really my line and ironically in five years I’ve been on TV, I haven’t done a sports program until now,” he said.