[1] Alvarez grew up in Yokosuka, Japan where he first played for the Nile C. Kinnick High School Basketball Varsity Squad.

Shortly, after finishing high school, he flew to the Philippines and attended at Ateneo de Manila University where he became a pivotal part of the Blue Eagles basketball squad.

Thus, as a sophomore in 2000, he won the coveted UAAP MVP award, beating the likes of King Archer Mike Cortez, fellow Blue Eagle Enrico Villanueva and UST's Cyrus Baguio.

He thought that Alvarez was not yet ready to play,[3][4] but when Leo Austria took over the team's coaching duties, his game status went up and won the Rookie of the Year honors at season's end.

As the Shell franchise was about to take a leave of absence from the league, he was traded to the Alaska Aces along with Tony dela Cruz,[6] where he struggled in his only appearance with the team during the 2005-06 PBA Fiesta Conference.

Prior to the start of the 2006 PBA Philippine Cup, he was traded to the Red Bull Barako in exchange for two 1st round picks, reuniting him with some of his former teammates in college.