He played for the Letran Squires in high school, where he became teammates with future PBA player Kevin Alas.

The next season, he was one of the league leaders in several categories: third in scoring average (18.4 ppg), second in assists (4.9 apg), and fifth in steals (1.4 spg).

In 2013, he increased his scoring average to 19.33 ppg, second in the league behind season MVP Terrence Romeo.

[11] His late selection in the draft drew reactions from fans, and was the top trending topic on Twitter that day.

[13] He and Rain or Shine guard and fellow UE alumnus Paul Lee shared the same agent and adviser in coach Lawrence Chongson.