Everything has sunk in for volatile Jose Rizal University guard John Amores.
Almost two weeks after his violent outburst against College of Saint Benilde, Amores spoke in an online video Sunday and expressed remorse over the trail of destruction that he left in Season 98 National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament.
“I need to finish my counseling and community service first. I need to start from scratch,” Amores, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration student, said.
“I want to settle my cases as soon as possible. For now, I just want to focus on that and take care of my family and attend my counseling sessions.”
The league put him on indefinite suspension immediately after the incident and JRU later expelled him from any sporting activities of the school.
Amores, 23, was likewise prevented from attending his studies until further notice.
During his two-fisted attack on Saint Benilde when the game had already been decided, Amores landed punches on Mark Sangco, Taine Davis and Jimboy Pasturan.
Two Blazers members later filed charges against him.
A few days ago, Amores’ road to redemption and quest to return to the good graces of the school and league started when he showed up during Saint Benilde’s training session.
“I’m sorry to the fans of Saint Benilde, to the JRU community, and to the NCAA community and to the management committee. I know I need to do better,” Amores said.
As per league rules, Amores has to do community service as part of his rehabilitation.
“I know not everyone will forgive me right away but they would do eventually. To the bashers, bash me and leave my family out of this since I’m the one who did it.”
Blazers head coach Charles Tiu said Amores didn’t ask Davis and Pasturan to drop the case and was just happy that he apologized to the team in person.
“We’re happy that he did that, it takes a lot of humility for him to accept his mistakes and to come up in front of the whole team to just say sorry. It’s not easy,” Tiu said.
“It’s a step towards the right direction for him, he said he wants to have a fresh start. We hope that one day he can revive his career somehow and I hope another team gives him a chance.”
