Devon Scott was given a fresh start when he suited up as replacement import for San Miguel Beer in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup.
Beermen head coach Leo Austria said they are putting Scott’s checkered past behind as they shoot for the title of this midseason conference.
Scott, the 6-foot-9 forward who replaced Diamond Stone in the wake of June Mar Fajardo’s throat injury, was sentenced to a 90-day jail sentence for his involvement in on-campus burglaries around seven years ago.
He, however, had already wiped his slate clean and went on to have a stellar career that brought him to countries like New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, Israel, South Korea, Italy, Dominican Republic and Mexico before making his way to the PBA.
“Well, that’s already a thing of the past,” Austria said.
“When he arrived, we knew his history. We were able to check it with the availability of social media and information on the internet.”
Austria said Scott did drastic changes not just on the court, but in his entire life as well.
“As far as I know, he’s a changed man. He is a Christian,” he said.
“He tries to talk to everyone and he’s very accommodating. Most of the players love him. He is a team player and very unselfish.”
In just his second game with the team, Scott nearly ended up with a triple-double performance, finishing with 26 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to make a strong case of keeping his spot.
Scott is the third import enlisted by the Beermen this conference after original choice Thomas Robinson and Stone.
Robinson, the highly-fancied National Basketball Association veteran, is still recovering from a bulging disc injury and had to be replaced by Stone without playing a single game this conference.
Stone, on the other hand, played three games and was shipped out after the Beermen decided to bring in a solid post player to fill in the void vacated by Fajardo.
Although San Miguel is keeping its doors open on Robinson, Austria confirmed that his team is not looking beyond Scott.
