Debate on college imports

Two young athletes stirred debate regarding the treatment of foreign players in Philippine collegiate basketball. Spectators are sharply divided regarding whether to give them preferential treatment or restrict their entry in the first place. Sadly, this does not reflect so well on us as a people.

Gilas Pilipinas and Cal State Northridge guard Kobe Paras, who is himself trying to make it as a foreign player in US college basketball, congratulated De La Salle’s Ben Mbala for his second straight UAAP Most Valuable Player Award. Then Paras suggested the creation of distinct awards for foreign players, believing that there should be a separate standard for them. In response, former University of the Philippines player JR Gallarza let out a barrage of messages on social media, espousing the opposite opinion. Gallarza, a FilipinoCanadian, hinted that some of the strong local opinions against foreign players smack of racism. This further complicates the matter.

First things first. Over the last 12 years, the rules of both collegiate leagues have been flip-flopping on the issue, particularly the NCAA. There has never been unanimity on the inclusion of foreign student-athletes in basketball, far from it. Years ago, enterprising Letran alumni produced t-shirts proclaiming the Knights as the best all-Filipino team in the league, an obvious snipe at San Beda, which has won 10 of the last 12 NCAA seniors basketball championships, mostly with dominant foreign centers. Letran last won an NCAA men’s basketball in 2015, the only school other than San Sebastian College to break the Red Lions’ stranglehold on the trophy since Sam Ekwe started the trend of tall foreign centers 12 years ago. Letran also won in 2005, the year before San Beda started dominating with foreign players.

The previous rules did not segregate student-athletes based on their nationality. Gradually, they evolved to limit the number and playing time of foreign reinforcements. In 2013, the NCAA was set to remove foreign players altogether. However, that may be an infringement upon the rights of the players in question, since they are included in the all-encompassing qualification “student-athlete”. Aren’t they also students who are trying to get an education? Are we to assume that they somehow have it easier or are treated more favorably by their professors because they’re from another country? Isn’t that hypocritical?

Having a Best Import award might make sense if the foreign players were paid and not also scholars. But it would sound funny that they would be the best in a very small field of one import or less per school. And wouldn’t it be an insult to imply that all imports are better than all locals, which is demonstrably untrue?

One suggestion would be to simply allocate one scholarship at a time for foreign student-athletes in basketball. Though this would still be protectionist, at least it sounds diplomatic. And it isn’t far removed from schools in the US, which drastically limited scholarships for Asian students who overwhelmingly outperformed their American contemporaries. If those are the rules from the outset, there shouldn’t be an issue. Whichever direction they want to go, the leagues must show decisiveness, make the tough call and stick to it.

Is the controversy surrounding foreign basketball collegians discriminatory? Definitely, since the changes in rules are a recoil, coming after the fact that only a few schools benefited. Are the rules racist? Not necessarily. The majority of the dominant big men in collegiate basketball have come from poor places in Africa. A few have even needed tutoring in English. Frankly, we have yet to see a Caucasian center from another country dominate local college leagues in many years. And the few who have played in the country (Ateneo’s Kirk Long was one of those mentioned) were not exceptional big men. So since there is no comparison, you can’t say they’re racist. The PBA has had height restrictions on imports to keep the games competitive. Having foreign players, regardless of their skin color or nationality, also motivates homegrown players to strive harder. Let’s face it, winning makes everyone else work harder. It pushes boundaries, forces alsorans to discover new ways to win. Railing against the rules is a cop-out. You are a member of a league, and tacitly agreed to its rules. Why complain when you don’t win? Ask yourself if foreign players helped make the league more popular and profitable, and raised the profile if your own school in the process.

Here is the larger question that nobody is asking: culturally, do Filipinos have a habit of punishing others’ success?

Think about it for a minute.