Undeniably, Titing Manalili is emerging as the face of not just the Letran Knights, but perhaps the entire NCAA as well.
In a span of just 10 games, the rookie star has shown it all—from crafty dimes that have made him the league’s top assist leader so far to acrobatic shots that leave fans, his own teammates, and even rivals in awe.
Manalili could easily be tagged as the new face of the league, but the Cebuano guard isn’t focused on personal glory, saying that his mantra has always been 'team first'.
"Una, salamat sa pagpunta kasi nga pinapanood niyo ako. Sana sa buong Letran naman, kaming buong team’ manood din kayo, hindi lang para sa akin," Manalili said last Saturday.
"‘Yung face of [NCAA] parang hindi ako sang-ayon ‘don kasi nga maraming magagaling. Ano lang ako, basta manalo lang kami ng team ko."
(First, thank you for coming to watch me. I hope you watch not only for me but for the whole of Letran team... As for face of NCAA, I don't really agree because there are other players that are really good. For me, I'm just trying to help my team win.)
Manalili, a high school superstar for the Letran Squires, had to wait a year before finally suiting up for the Knights after sustaining an injury prior to Season 100.
And he quickly proved why his arrival had been so highly anticipated.
Manalili currently leads the league in assists, dishing out an impressive 9.1 dimes per game, which is far ahead of the rest of the field with De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s Tony Ynot in second at 4.88.
He’s also in a four-way tie for fourth in steals, averaging 1.6 per game, while ranking as the second-most active player in minutes played at 31:12 per game, just behind fellow rookie Jhuniel Dela Rama, who logs 34:16.
Thanks to Manalili directing Letran’s offense, the Knights have turned their season around, climbing to a 6-4 record after a challenging 0-3 start.
But while Manalili has slowly established his reputation in the league, pressure has also mounted for the young star, who admitted he has to silence outside voices, especially whenever Letran suffers a loss.
In fact, after their shock loss to San Sebastian College-Recoletos that ended a five-game winning streak, the Knights organized a team building trip to Batangas.
"Binalikan namin ‘yung game na ‘yun kung paano kami natalo. Ang daming sinasabi ng mga tao na ganyan, ganito pero sabi lang sa’min ni Coach Allen na ‘wala, ‘wag niyo pakinggan ‘yan kasi wala namang natutulong ‘yan sa atin’," Manalili shared.
"And ayun, binalikan namin sa ensayo kasi challenge sa amin na hindi ganito ang Letran. Nag-team building kami, nag-reset kami."
(We went over the game and how we lost. People say it's this or it's that, but Coach Allen says, don't listen to them because that doesn't help us... And there, we went over things in practice because the challenge to us is, this isn't Letran. We did team building to reset.)
That proved to be the key as they bounced back right away with an 85-71 win against Jose Rizal University last Saturday.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
