MANILA, Philippines—Mapua star Clint Escamis completed his pursuit for NCAA greatness in the identical manner his basketball journey started.
Profitable the NCAA championship was historic for the Cardinals and a full-circle second for Escamis.
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Except for retaining the identical firm on his highway to the NCAA Season 100 males’s basketball title, Escamis saved yet another factor alongside for the strenuous experience.
READ: Redemption tour full for Clint Escamis, Mapua
From the Ultimate 4 to the title-clinching recreation, Escamis wore the identical sneaker silhouette he as soon as wore when he began taking part in varsity basketball as a child.
“I selected the KD 4 as a result of it was my first-ever footwear as a child,” stated Escamis after successful Sport 1 of the Finals towards School of St. Benilde, referring to the retro model of Kevin Durant’s fourth signature sneaker which initially hit cabinets again in 2011 and rereleased earlier this 12 months.
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The one distinction is the colorway.
“The KD 4 Oranges? These orange and white footwear had been my first… [Now,] I’m carrying it to deliver again the childhood reminiscences as a result of that’s the place I’m getting my energy,” stated Escamis, who rocked the KD 4 “Weatherman” this time.
The timing couldn’t be extra excellent for Escamis because the sneaker arrived simply in time for Mapua’s Ultimate 4 run.
Earlier than choosing the KD 4s and return to the place it began, Escamis switched kicks from the Guide 1s, Sabrina 1s and Kobes.
READ: Clint Escamis enjoys title for now amid questions on return
“I used to be really eyeing the KD 4 Galaxy’s however I believed, rather a lot are promoting these already so why not get the Weathermans?”
Escamis wasn’t any totally different from the typical sneakerhead, who couldn’t wait to get his fingers on his pair.
“It’s laborious to get these as a result of you need to pre-order so in our final recreation of the eliminations, I pre-ordered it. Per week later, I used to be already nagging my kicks supplier, ‘The place is it? We’ve got a recreation on Saturday!’ When it got here on Friday night time, I wore it the subsequent day instantly,” Escamis recalled.
‘It’s gotta be the footwear’
Mapua guard Clint Escamis reacts whereas carrying the KD 4 “Weatherman” throughout Sport 2 of the NCAA Season 100 males’s basketball Finals.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.web
In 1991, the now-classic “It’s gotta be the footwear” Nike business starring Michael Jordan and Spike Lee aired to advertise the Air Jordan 5.
Certain, nothing compares to a pair of Air Jordans however Escamis’ first recreation carrying the Weathermans was pure magic as he made it rain with a career-high 33 factors to propel Mapua again into the NCAA Finals.
Coincidence? Escamis adopted it up with one other 30-piece in Sport 1 of the title collection. Bothered by cramps within the second half, Escamis completed with 18 factors, 4 assists and three steals to shut out the Blazers and finish the Cardinals’ decades-long await an NCAA crown.
Escamis dazzled within the championship spherical averaging 24 factors on 51 % taking pictures from the sector, 4 assists, and 4 steals on his strategy to bagging the Finals MVP plum.
“All of us have these issues that we deal with as our first and to put on my first basketball shoe as a varsity [player], it simply goes again to all of the laborious work you set in all these late nights,” Escamis stated.
“It simply led as much as this second and it paid off with my heritage as a result of it’s my first shoe as a varsity participant.”
READ: Mapua ends 33-year drought, wins NCAA title with sweep of Benilde
‘You the actual MVP’
In 2014, Kevin Durant delivered one of the vital memorable MVP speeches that also resonates at the moment.
“If you didn’t eat, you made certain we ate. You went to sleep hungry. You sacrificed for us…. You the actual MVP,” stated Durant in his MVP acceptance speech a decade in the past when he was nonetheless taking part in to the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder.
Escamis feels the identical manner.
“I used to do that factor after I was younger the place I’d take an image of myself whereas taking pictures a free throw with my mother. I recreate it yearly and I do not forget that she would accompany me to Brent, which is so removed from Parañaque, and I used to be carrying these footwear,” he stated. “She purchased that for me.”
“I’m so grateful for her,” added Escamis as he was holding again his tears. “I’d even wish to name it [KD 4] my ‘mother footwear.’ Understanding that she did a lot effort for me as a child, driving me round Parañaque, to QC, to AMA [for training]. That actually takes laborious work, dedication and perception to your youngster.”
Nostalgia is available in alternative ways and varieties. When Escamis remembers his outdated sneakers, it takes him again to his humble beginnings when he was nonetheless in grade faculty attempting to crack the varsity group. The brand new ones will probably be without end related along with his NCAA crowning second with Mapua.
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However whether or not it’s the previous or current, one factor has been fixed for Escamis.
“She simply believed in me and I’m simply so grateful for her. I dedicate these and people footwear to her. That’s actually my finest reminiscence.”
