By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negrense guard Mark Nonoy is looking to revive his collegiate basketball career under new De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers head coach Michael “Topex” Robinson in the upcoming UAAP season.

The Negros Occidental’s La Carlota City-native Nonoy said he is motivated to perform well under Robinson after riding the bench in his previous two seasons with the Green Archers.

“Ang laki ng pasasalamat ko kay coach Topex,” the 5-foot-8 guard said. 

“Tinuruan niya kaming ibalik ‘yung confidence namin kasi all these years, parang nawala ‘yung confidence ko,” he said. 

“‘Yung mga kasabayan ko nung Season 82, lahat wala na sa UAAP at nasa ibang bansa na. Pero sa akin, mag-focus lang ako at mag-stick ako dito,” Nonoy, who started his UAAP career with the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers, added.

For his part, Robinson was also full of praise for the Negrense point guard following his impressive offensive and defensive showing in the pre-season matches of the Green Archers.

“He’s really exciting to watch and I’m really happy to have him,” Robinson said.

He admitted he had his eyes on Nonoy from way back when the latter was still at Hua Siong College of Iloilo.

“The good thing about Mark is [that] his confidence is so important. He will make mistakes, but it’s okay. And I tell these to the guys that if you have a shot, shoot it with confidence,” he added.

Robinson, who was tapped to replace the underperforming Derrick Pumaren at the DLSU bench, also described Nonoy as a “selfless leader” as his confidence and energy rubbed off on his teammates.

Nonoy said that he is looking forward to repaying the trust given to him by Robinson in his final UAAP collegiate year with the Green Archers.

“Ang sa akin, gusto ko mag-focus lang [sa DLSU] at mag-stick ako dito, na ‘yung kulang sa team ibibigay ko,” Nonoy said. 

“Lahat ng struggles ko sa family, basketball career ko, ibubuhos ko na kasi ito na ‘yung last playing year ko,” he added.