After spending the past few years as a benchwarmer, Jerrick Ahanmisi is now having his breakout season while playing for the Magnolia Timplados Hotshots.
Quite a number of times this season, the younger Ahanmisi is being relied upon by head coach Chito Victolero and the former Adamson star has been providing the firepower needed by the Hotshots to ease up the load on resident veteran stars Paul Lee and Mark Barroca.
Jerrick’s elder brother, Maverick, who now plays for Barangay Ginebra, knows that the younger Ahanmisi can become a much better player under the tutelage of Lee. Maverick and Paul played together when they were with Rain or Shine, then coached by Yeng Guiao, and together they won a championship in the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup while also teaming up in the Philippine squad during the 2018 Asian James in Jakarta.
“I trust that he’ll be better. He has Paul, who also served as my mentor,” said the elder Ahanmisi. “I think he’s in good hands over there.”
But more than the mentorship, it’s Jerrick’s work ethics which also should be given more value, according to Maverick.
“He’s been working hard. What a lot of people don’t see is the number of hours he spends in the gym and weight room,” added Maverick. “It’s finally that all those hard work is coming to light now. It’s not a shock to me that he could play like that. It’s good that he’s getting the opportunity now and he’s taking advantage.”
