UP caps off UAAP Season 87 preparations in Taiwan

UP men's basketball team

The final phase of preparations for the University of the Philippines in their quest to reclaim the University Athletics Association of the Philippines is now set, with the Fighting Maroons already in the Taiwanese city of Keelung for a tournament.

UP is one of eight teams participating in the 2024 Interleague play, where they will face a variety of opposition from both Chinese-Taipei and Thailand, a couple of weeks before the start of the 87th season of the UAAP.

Matches in the single round-robin, week-long competition organized by the Chinese-Taipei Basketball Association will take place inside the Keelung Gymnasium, from August 24-31, with the Bangkok University of Thailand as the other visiting team.

Set to represent the hosts are the U22 Elite team, a representative from the Asian University Basketball Championships, the Bank of Taiwan, Changhua BLL, Taiwan Beer, and a TPBL squad.

After holding a couple of training camps in Serbia and Korea, this Taiwan trip is the third this offseason, as they try to claim their second UAAP title in the 21st century.

Notable holdovers JD Cagulangan, Harold Alarcon, and Francis Lopez will be complemented by a bevy of newcomers, led by Quentin Millora-Brown and Jacob Bayla, as well as Gani Stevens and Dikachi Udodo, both of which will try to fill the shoes left by Malick Diouf.

Head coach Goldwin Monteverde shares, "We are aware of the expectations, siyempre, and we welcome them naman, pero tayo naman, ever since, ang focus natin is getting better each game."

The team will arrive in time to start their preparations for the UAAP, which opens on September 7 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.