MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-American basketball sensation Jalen Green was the pregame buzz owing to his aerial exploits in last year’s Chooks-to-Go NBTC National Finals presented by SM.
And no doubt, this high-flying, slam-dunking basketball prodigy, who led the US to the FIBA Under-17 World Championship in Argentina last year, lives up to the hype.
But tugging on Superman’s cape and also catching the eye of basketball coaches and observers was his FilAm Sports USA teammate Kainoa “Kai” Ballungay.
The tall and aerodynamic 6’7” Ballungay tallied 19 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block versus three turnovers in Team USA’s 78-45 romp over AusPinoy Australia in the classification matches of the 2019 Chooks to Go NBTC National Finals at the Mall of Asia Arena, Monday, March 18.
“I’m from Hawaii,” introduced Kai of himself. “My dad, Miles Ballungay, is a Filipino who hails from Hawaii but I am also half-white. My grandmother is from Ilocos Norte.”
Ballungay turned 17 last November and just graduated from for Kimball High School Jaguars (the school is located in Tracy, California) where he averaged 24.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game from the three-spot.
The Jaguars were knocked out by Vanden High School Vikings, 80-75, in the first round of the Sacramento-Joaquin Section Division III Championships last February 13. Ballungay scored 22 points for Kimball (also the same number his teammate, John Harris).
“Right now, I havecommitted to California State University Stanislaus for college,” said Ballungay of his young basketball career. The CSU Stanislaus Warriors are coming off a 12-14 season and it is hoped that Ballungay will give the team a lift.
Coming over to Manila for the first time, Kai was happy to be in touch with his roots. “It’s a great feeling coming over here,” said the young basketeer. “This (MOA Arena) is the biggest venue I’ve played in and I hear that by the second day of competition, this place gets packed and is really noisy. That would be great. I will see what I can do for Team USA and the fans.”
Playing alongside Jalen Green, Ballungay chuckled, “It would have been nice to have him too as a teammate in Kimball.”
“But he’s a great young talent and it’s just one game, but it has been fun to play alongside him.”
Regarding any chances of playing in the Philippines, Ballungay said, “I can’t tell what happens in the future. We’ll see.”