Jack Animam is keeping her focus on the 19th Asian Games despite getting a lot of offers from various international squads.
Speaking during the 23rd anniversary of Daily Tribune, Animam revealed that she has been getting a lot of offers following her solid performance for Gilas Pilipinas in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games and the FIBA Women’s Asian Cup.
Animam helped the Nationals secure the silver medal in the SEA Games in Cambodia last May before powering them to stay in Division A in the Asian Cup in Sydney early last month.
Prior to the back-to-back international campaigns, Animam saw action for USO Mondeville Basket in the Ligue Feminine 2 de Basketball, where they made it as far as the quarterfinals before getting swept by Chatres Basket Ferminin in their best-of-three series.
“I got some offers from different countries but it’s still too early. I want to wait and focus on Gilas,” said Animam, who graced the affair with her teammate, Sofia Roman.
Playing abroad is nothing new for the 6-foot-5 center.
Her first stint was with Radnički Kragujevac in the First Women’s Basketball League of Serbia, where she averaged 20.0 points and 14.3 rebounds in eight games before going down with an anterior cruciate ligament injury that sidelined her for a year.
Then, she played for French side Toulouse Metropole Basket in the first division where she averaged 3.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in three games.
With the Gilas girls joining the Asian Games for the first time, Animam said they want to show up prepared by participating in the Jones Cup in Taipei from 5 to 10 August as well as an invitational tourney in South Korea at the end of August.
“This will be our first Asian Games this September. We’re closing the gap in competing with the top teams in Asia. I’m so glad for the coaches and what they are doing with the program because we have come a long way,” Animam said.
“The opponents we faced in the FIBA Women’s Asian Cup will be the same ones but we’re also expecting other Southeast Asian countries there.”
