Kiefer Ravena takes home MVP trophy, PhP280,000 in prizes
Kiefer Ravena would have loved to stand in center court alongside his Ateneo Blue Eagles but as consolation prizes go, what he took home was not too shabby.
The King Eagle took home the biggest individual award of UAAP Season 77 as he was officially named the Most Valuable Player.
Ravena was joined by teammate Chris Newsome, Jeron Teng of DLSU, Karim Abdul of UST, and Mac Belo of FEU in the UAAP Mythical Five. Ateneo’s Arvin Tolentino was named as the Rookie of the Year.
Interestingly enough, National University didn’t have an entry to the top five even if they made it to the UAAP finals.
As a member of the Mythical Five, Ravena took home 10,000 pesos. The MVP award also came with 20,000 pesos, a Mazda 3 he could use for four months, and gas allowance.
Ravena’s Blue Eagles topped the elimination round but lost two straight to the Bulldogs in the Final Four. He will get the chance at redemption as he already committed to playing his fifth and final year with Ateneo.
Aside from the major honors, Ravena also took home a bevy of sponsored awards, which raised his total tally to a whopping 280,000 pesos.
Still, he couldn’t stop himself from teasing two of his friends who are playing in the finals.
“May the best team win,” Ravena said. “Kila Mike Tolomia at Gelo Alolino, manlibre na lang yung mananalo sa amin ni Jeron.”
“From a season to forget last year, we all had the drive to perform better,” Ravena added. “Sadly it was not enough. Hats off to NU and FEU because they also worked their butts off to get here.
“This is not my goal but this is definitely a blessing. Dinededicate ko ito sa teammates ko kasi kung hindi dahil sa kanila, di ko makukuha ito. Siguro kulang pa yung trinabaho ko.”
While he won an MVP trophy for the first time in his UAAP career, Ravena said it is not the trophy he wanted. “Hindi ako magdadalawang isip to trade this trophy for a championship,” he said. “But it’s a good sign for us because we’re going to have a stronger team next season.”
Ravena also clarified that he is open to joining Gilas if he is invited.“I’m open to joining the national team, most definitely. I won’t think twice if I get an invite.”
