Unlike some of his friends back home, Kieffer Alas will be spending the holidays polishing his game as Layton Christian Academy (LCA) will be in California for The Classic at Damien at Damien High School in La Verne from 26 to 30 December.

His father and veteran coach, Louie Alas, told the DAILY TRIBUNE that his son will be on the road as they look to stay undefeated after starting the academic year with 10 straight wins.

The Eagles will kick off their campaign against Crespi Carmelite High School on Saturday at 9 a.m. (Manila time).

“They will be there in California from the 24th of December to the 3rd of January,” said the elder Alas, who is with his wife, Liza, in Utah to personally support and motivate his son.

“One thing is for sure, he'll get positive things here because we don't have back-to-back games at home. It will develop his toughness and his strength. There are a lot of things that he can learn and he knows that personally.”

Louie, who also serves as an assistant coach for Ateneo de Manila University, said his son, a former De La Salle Zobel star, has improved not only in his skills but also academically in LCA.

"He has an award with honors here in Layton and, like what I've said, his character development and his maturity are better,” Louie said.

“His body is getting stronger, and his skills are good here. Most likely, we’ll go to California but if we can’t do that, we’ll be here in Utah.”

Alas is making the most out of his lone year with the Eagles to try and get into a Division 1 school in the US National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Should he succeed, he will join the likes of Japeth Aguilar (Western Kentucky), Gabe Norwood (George Mason), Dwight Ramos (Cal State Fullerton) and Kobe Paras (Creighton) as the only Filipino basketball players to play in the highest tier of collegiate basketball in the United States.