For the love of family and the sport of basketball, three collegiate superstars dared to leave their comfort zones to make their dreams come true.
Ange Kouame of the Ateneo Blue Eagles, Rhenz Abando of the UST Growling Tigers, and Ricci Rivero of the UP Fighting Maroons are ready to tell the stories behind their inspiring journey to the biggest stage yet of their young basketball careers in the iWant original sports documentary “Dayories.”
Produced by iWant with the ABS-CBN Sports Digital team and director Enzo Marcos, “Dayories” traces the roots of Ange, Ricci, and Rhenz and the grit and grind it took for them to make an impact in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the country’s premier collegiate league.
“We were naturally excited because iWant and ABS-CBN Sports have a similar objective in giving sports fans stories that inspire. It was also a great next step since iWant already provides the livestream UAAP experience. Fans will now get to know UAAP players through deeper storytelling,” shared ABS-CBN Sports’ digital head Mico Halili.
The first episode, which is now streaming on iWant, focuses on the big man from the Ateneo De Manila University. Born and raised in Ivory Coast in Africa, Ange has been living in the Philippines since 2016, to get his education and pursue his NBA dream.
The 21-year old immediately won the respect of the UAAP community in UAAP Season 81, where he won Rookie of the Year and helped his team defend their title, overcoming the language barrier and the difficulty of being away from his mother.
This season, he has been an unstoppable force inside the paint, and one of the main reasons behind Ateneo’s unblemished record in the recently-concluded UAAP Men’s Basketball tournament.
The second episode features highly-touted small forward Ricci, who shares the challenges he encountered transferring schools from the De La Salle University to the University of the Philippines Diliman, starting all over again in terms of his academics and adjusting his game to fit in a team loaded with talent and alphas in the court. Outside the court, the spotlight continues to focus on the Tourism major, who’s also a product endorser and a budding actor and host.
Viewers will also get to know more about Rhenz, a La Union native whose meteoric rise from being an unknown recruit to one of the league’s most exciting players is one of this season’s best storylines. The rookie’s rumored transfer mid-season gave him his first taste of the downside of fame, but with the help of his team he was able to regain his focus and made it to his first finals appearance.
They all left home, sacrificed comfort, put in extra work, in pursuit of a goal and a life-long dream. Along the way, they found success and more importantly, they found a new home and new family.
Watch “Dayories” on iWant starting with the first episode featuring Ange Kouame available now on ABS-CBN’s streaming platform iWant. For more information, follow @iWant on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or go to iwant.ph [1] or download the iWant app.
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