At A Glance
- Jai Reyes was named the basketball commissioner for the upcoming UAAP Season 88, the league announced Friday, Aug. 22.
Jai Reyes (Asiabasket)
Jai Reyes was named the basketball commissioner for the upcoming UAAP Season 88, the league announced Friday, Aug. 22.
The 38-year-old Reyes, who was a back-to-back champion with the Blue Eagles in Seasons 71 and 72, will replace fellow former student-athlete Xavy Nunag, who held the position for three consecutive years and eventually resigned last April to focus on his business ventures.
Reyes hopes that he can deliver in his new role of helping improve the league in order to give more opportunities for the student-athletes.
“I felt happy and excited that I can help build the UAAP because the league has opened so many opportunities for me,” said Reyes. “I hope I can contribute to improving the league so it can do the same for the younger athletes.”
Prior to his appointment, Reyes, also Season 68’s Rookie of the Year and a BS Communications Technology Management graduate at Ateneo, was the founder of Asiabasket – a basketball league that caters senior and collegiate squads from the Southeast Asia region since 2021.
He now joins forces with experienced Deputy Commissioners Dino Lee, Mikko Abello (High School Division), and Regina “Ginny” Velarde (Women’s Division) in the Basketball Commissioner’s Office.
Veteran coach Joseph Enrique "Jong" Uichico will serve as a consultant.
“His experience is invaluable. He also headed the referee department of the SBP for quite some time,” said Reyes of Uichico.
Liberato "Levi" Valenzuela, an honorary FIBA member and rules contributor who recently retired from officiating in 2020, works as the technical head, while experienced official Ferdinand “Bong” Pascual is in charge of the referees’ workshop.
UAAP basketball is set to unfurl late September.