JC Cullar is fortunate to have great mentors around him as he tries to be the best leader he can be for his De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde teammates.
One of those examples is basketball star Kiefer Ravena, who according to the Benilde guard, joined the Blazers' training some time ago before he flew to Japan to join the Shiga Lakes in the B.League.
And Cullar learned a thing or two about leadership from 'Kuya Kiefer'.
"I tried to be the best leader I can, so I read books and talk with other leaders. Shout out to Kuya Kiefer Ravena," Cullar said after powering Benilde to an 84-72 win over Arellano University on Wednesday.
"He trained with us so after that I got his number and I asked him questions."
Cullar has been an effective leader for Benilde, on the court and off of it. His unselfishness on the court is also reflected by how effective he is sharing the leather, averaging an NCAA-best 6.2 assists per game after five outings in the ongoing NCAA Season 98.
In their game against the Chiefs, the 25-year-old Cullar had seven dimes while he collected a season-best nine assists in their loss to Colegio de San Juan de Letran last Friday.
He said this was a product of him getting to know his teammates better, one of the best qualities of a leader he likes to emulate from Ravena.
"He's great at talking kasi first time niyang nag-train sa amin and parang alam niya kung paano tuturuan 'yung mga kasama niya and he's super smart," Cullar added.
"After no'n, na-amaze ako, parang gusto ko talaga matuto sa kanya."
Cullar also credited both former and present Benilde coaches like TY Tang and Charles Tiu for molding him into what he is now.
"I have good leaders around me, I had Coach TY, I have Coach Charles, and many of our managers. I'd like to talk to them a lot and I tried to learn everyday," he said.
"The first thing I want to do with my teammates is to build a good relationship with them off the court so I tried to get close with them, get to know more about them so when we're on the court, it's easier to talk to them."
—JMB, GMA News
