One last flight

I wasn’t really playing well during my first year and, at the same time, I wasn’t focused on my studies. I think it was a wake up call for me to get my stuff together

THIRDY Ravena looks to come up with a strong season in his final year in college. DAVID JOHN CUBANGBANG

This holds true for Thirdy Ravena when he formally stepped out of the shadows of his father and older brother to emerge as the heart and soul of Ateneo de Manila University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament.

Coming out of basketball royalty wasn’t easy.

His father, Bong, is regarded as one of the best defensive players in the Philippine Basketball Association while his older brother, Kiefer, drew a lot of attention when he powered the Blue Eagles to a couple of UAAP titles while setting the record for the most number of gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games.

That’s why expectations were high when he entered Ateneo in 2014.

With Kiefer on the way out, Thirdy was heavily expected to pick up the cudgels and continue the Ravena legacy in Philippine basketball.

“It wasn’t easy to enter a league and a team known to be a territory of my brother,” Thirdy said. “But I always make sure that I am doing my thing.”

After a forgettable rookie season, Thirdy was barred from suiting up for failing to meet the school’s required grades for varsity players.

From a rising star tipped to serve as the torchbearer of legacy, Thirdy was reduced into a mere cheerleader who was hounded with questions that further rubbed salt to the wound.

But instead of getting angry, Thirdy turned it into a motivation.

“I think that obstacle in my life that I have to go through was not easy but I think it’s one of the greatest lessons I learned that I can still apply until today,” Thirdy said, saying that his failure to suit up served as a strong wakeup call.

“I wasn’t really playing well during my first year and, at the same time, I wasn’t focused on my studies. I think it was a wake up call for me to get my stuff together.”

Now, that the nightmare of that debacle is already a thing of the past, Thirdy is keeping his focus on one goal: Help Ateneo in defending its title.

He knows that winning the crown would not only bury the ghost of that lost season.

It would also help him completely create his own identity.

“I want to play my final year with a bang,” he said.