MANILA, Philippines – Kieffer Alas literally grew up on a basketball court.
About 12 years ago, a 4-year-old Alas was a fixture at the Letran Knights’ games, then led by his brother Kevin and coached by his father Louie.
In Letran’s practices, the toddler even brushed elbows with now PBA stars Raymond Almazan, Kevin Racal, and Converge assistant coach McJour Luib.
The kid had since grown up to be one of the Gilas Youth program’s cornerstones, leading the country to a FIBA Under-17 World Championship berth last year, and is now the second-ranked high school player in the country in the NBTC rankings.
“Coming from a basketball family, my name is just known because of them. Now, I get to have a chance to have a name for myself,” said the 16-year-old guard, who, in recent years, has been dominating his age group.
Playing for De La Salle Zobel since elementary, Alas won titles as early as age 9, played as an import for an Indonesian team when he was 12, and was picked for an NBA camp in Singapore last year before shining in the FIBA U16 Asian Championship where he was named to the tournament’s All-Star Five.
In the recently concluded UAAP Season 86 juniors basketball tournament, the youngest of Louie Alas’ sons finished as runner-up in the Most Valuable Player race behind foreign player Collins Akowe of National University.
“I just thank the Lord God for putting me in this position,” said the soft-spoken Alas, who was named MVP in the NBTC’s All-Star festivities on Saturday, March 23.
“I’m grateful that my family is always there for me. They always support me in every way they can,” he added.
Aside from Kevin, who is part of the Gilas Pilipinas seniors squad that won gold in the 2023 Asian Games, Kieffer’s brothers JunJun and Kenneth also grew up as basketball players, playing in the NCAA.
Meanwhile, their father Louie has recently been added to the Ateneo Blue Eagles’ coaching staff and is the incumbent head coach of the MPBL team Zamboanga Valientes.
Kevin, Louie, and mother Liza were all at the sidelines to support Kieffer in the NBTC All-Star game.
“It feels good to see them constantly supporting me. I know they got my back whenever I play,” Alas said.
Alas is expected to carry the country’s flag again in the June Under-17 World Cup, along with some NBTC stars who played in Saturday’s All-Star game.
Now entering senior high school, Kieffer has nothing in mind but to improve and evolve into the basketball superstar most people expect him to be.
“I have no plans but to continue to work on myself and be better every day,” he said. – Rappler.com
