UST girls excited to face challenge in NBA Rising Stars Invitationals

UST Junior Growling Tigresses celebrate after winning the UAAP Season 88 girls basketball championship.–Photo from The Varsitarian

MANILA, Philippines—UST-SHS is one of two Philippine representatives in the 2026 NBA Rising Star Invitationals and the Junior Growling Tigresses couldn’t hide their excitement.

Coach Arsenio Dysangco bared that while he has held the UST-SHS girls’ basketball squad for a while now, he hasn’t seen his team this revved up heading into a tournament.

“I’ve never seen them this excited before,” he said.

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“We’re extremely happy and we’re thankful to the NBA for inviting us. This is a very big event for us. We’re all excited about this program because we have a chance to play against top basketball girls’ programs here in Asia.”

The Junior Growling Tigresses will be bannered by Rhiane Perez, one of the brightest stars in the UAAP Season 88.

Perez won the season MVP award, all while steering UST-SHS past NUNS for the girls’ basketball championship.

Aside from his players, Dysangco himself also can’t wait to learn from other coaches.

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“I’m also excited as a coach and I’m sure my players too, are excited.”

“We’re very excited to witness the other teams playing too. “We’re looking forward to seeing everybody and playing against them. Since this is our first time, we also want to see where our program is compared to other universities and schools.”

UST-SHS begins its NBA RSI campaign on Wednesday against the Royal International High School at OCBC Arena.