Meralco Bolts player Allein Maliksi is now living a comfortable life as a professional basketball player. However, it was not long ago that he found himself struggling, especially during his student-athlete life playing for the University of Santo Tomas (UST).
In a Facebook post four years ago, the two-time PBA All Star said academic scholarship and a chance to play in the UAAP were enough for him and his teammates to achieve their basketball dreams. He was reacting then to the controversy involving UST's men’s basketball team.
In 2020, former skipper CJ Cansino (now a Meralco Bolts player) released screenshots of their alleged online group chat discussing their situation in the reported UST training bubble in Sorsogon.
In his Twitter account, Cansino showed members of the team expressing their grievances on the state of their training camp, particularly the food being prepared for them. The incident was investigated by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
Maliksi, on the other hand, sound thankful for the hardships that they faced as a varsity player – from eating meager meals to staying in dorms without aircon – saying it helped him reach his dream to become a PBA player.
"Siomai rice lang recovery meal na. Gusto mo footlong na madaming gravy. Or adobo na kasing labnaw ng sinigang may pawis pa ni Mariong Pilay ang sabaw," wrote Maliksi, who was part of the Tigers from 2008 to 2010.
Maliksi joined Dylan Ababou, Jervy Cruz, Japs Cuan, to name a few, under coach Pido Jarencio, now head coach of the UST Growling Tigers.
"Dorm namin walang aircon. Lahat ng usok ng España masinghot mo. Kami pa magco-collect ng basura ng mga bulok na pagkain at maglinis ng public CR. Basta makalaro lang at makagraduate. Ayos na."
"Namura nako ng coach ko, nasigawan, nasampal, nabatukan, na-combo pa dati. Ayun, madami akong natutunan at naabot ko PBA dream ko. Wala lang, share ko lang. Sarap at saya ng experience naming na yun eh." Maliksi first played for University of Manila. He then played for the UST Growling Tigers in 2007 after undergoing residency for a year. However before making his official debut, he tore his ACL in a tuneup game. The recovery process took five months, but he then re-tore his ACL in practice. This time, the recovery lasted eight months. He was only able to play one full season in the UAAP
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