By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter
Filipino-American basketball player Ella Fajardo is ticking off another item on her bucket list as she committed to play Division 1 basketball at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) in New Jersey.
Seventeen-year-old Fajardo, a product of the Milo BEST Center, shared last week that she is taking her talent to FDU, owing largely to the good relationship she has developed with the school’s coaching staff. It was also arrived at in consultation with her parents, Allan and Ellen, who have been very supportive of her basketball dreams since taking the sport seriously.
“It’s been a pretty long process,” Fajardo shared, saying that she’s been recruited by various institutions in the United States ever since her freshman year in high school at Gill St. Bernard’s School.
“Fairleigh loved who I was outside of basketball and I have that personality that would fit into the team. They’re really looking for specific people for Fairleigh’s winning culture, primarily a guard who has leadership skills, and that was definitely what they saw in me while recruiting me and watching my games live,” she added of her recruitment.
The move to commit was a fulfilment of one of her goals in basketball.
“One of my goals is to get a scholarship from a D1 (Division 1) school and play for the Perlas Pilipinas national team because I have a lot of Filipino pride. Being Filipino has taught me a lot to have puso (heart). And No matter what, always laban (fight),” Fajardo shared with BusinessWorld when she visited the country last year.
She got to play for the national team in 2019 when she joined Kristine Cayabyab, Camille Clarin and Angelica Marie Surada in the FIBA 3×3 U18 Cup in Malaysia, where the team won bronze.
Fajardo hopes someday she gets to don the Philippine colors as part of the 5-on-5 team.
Throughout her journey so far, she has been grateful of the “solid fundamentals with a scientific spin” she got from the BEST Center, which in itself was an “adventure.”
Unlike most graduates of the BEST Center, Fajardo flew into the country from the States every summer break with her family to enrol at the center and further hone her skills.
From 2012 to 2015 she immersed herself in the basketball program from the beginners level all the way to the advanced ones.
It was a “sacrifice” that was well worth the effort and time, said Fajardo, especially since she reaped a lot of benefits from it, including earning scholarships and winning awards as well as becoming part of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League with the New Jersey Sparks.
“The Milo BEST Center was foundational in my basketball career. The difference with the BEST Center and the other camps here in the States is their approach to teaching. They taught me how to dribble, how to play offense and defense, but they really taught me how to be disciplined while pushing you to the best of your abilities. Everything I know today came from them,” said Fajardo.
Now getting ready to take on a new challenge and journey, Fajardo is just thankful to be given the chance to continue what she loves doing.
“I think it’s such a blessing especially during these times of the pandemic …” she said.
