Homecoming in Green: Cortez and Miller Return to San Beda
Coming back to a place that once felt like home is never just about the game. For Jacob Cortez, stepping onto the court at San Beda University again wasn’t just another matchup. It carried history, familiarity, and a quiet kind of weight that only former players really understand.
This one came with even more meaning because it happened in front of a crowd that once cheered him in red. La Salle’s 77-76 loss to San Beda in the Asiabasket NSAC Campus Tour on Sunday, April 12, was already billed as a clash between two champion programs. But for Cortez and Janti Miller, it also became something more personal: a return to a court where both had already left part of themselves behind.
The hardwood may have looked the same, the system may have evolved, but the moment Mike Cortez’s son walked in, it wasn’t the changes that stood out first. It was the memories.
“It feels really great. You know, there’s a lot. Well, it’s a lot more new now, but, you know, upon arriving here, you know, just the memories started to fill in and those practices and all that. Yeah, it feels great to play here again.” Jacob Cortez shared in an interview with ALL-STAR Magazine.
Cortez knows that feeling better than most. Before moving to Taft in early 2024, he helped lead San Beda back to the NCAA title in Season 99 and emerged as one of the program’s key guards, leading them back to championship glory. Now a UAAP champion as well with La Salle, he returned to Mendiola in different colors, but still as one of the most familiar faces in the building.
On the same side of the court, Miller felt something similar, but in his own way. There was familiarity, yes, but also a strange adjustment that comes with facing a team you once belonged to. Not quite uncomfortable, but not entirely normal either.
“It feels great, bro. It feels a little weird playing my former team, but it’s an honor to go out there and play against them on the other side. It was fun.” Janti Miller said.
Miller’s return felt even fresher. He only transferred to La Salle in February, just months after helping San Beda in its most recent title run despite missing the final game of the season. So while Cortez’s story already carried some distance, Miller’s still felt new, almost immediate, like a page had only just turned.
There’s a different kind of awareness that comes with games like this. It’s not just about reading your opponent, it’s about already knowing them. Their habits, their tendencies, their system. For both players, that familiarity didn’t come from film study. It came from first-hand experience.
“Yes, I knew they were going to play as one team. That’s how Coach Yuri and his system is, and that’s what they did well today. They played as a team, they played hard, played harder than us, and that’s why they came up with the win.” Cortez explained.
That understanding showed in stretches. Cortez finished with 16 points, seven assists, and six rebounds, and at one point had 13 points on a perfect 5-of-5 clip in the first half. Even then, the game still unfolded the way familiar games often do. The knowledge is there, but so is the emotion, and sometimes the team that executes harder in the moment wins it.
“I knew all their plays. I know Coach Yuri was going to blitz me every screen. I know they were going to play me in the post. I know all that. I know how they play.” Miller said.
And yet, even with all that knowledge, there’s only so much you can control once the game begins. At some point, it becomes less about overthinking and more about muscle memory.
“I was just out there, having fun. I didn’t really care. I’m just out there to have fun.” Miller added.
That mindset showed a kind of looseness, especially in a game that could have easily felt heavier than it needed to be.
Because while there were emotions tied to the setting, there was also an understanding that this was still, at its core, just basketball. Miller played 15 minutes and scored four points, but more than the numbers, what stood out was how light he seemed to carry the moment.
“Because I’m not playing this season, I’m just out there to do my job. Get a few buckets here and there, that’s it.” Miller indicated.
But if the court brought familiarity, the crowd brought everything else.
At one point, as Cortez found himself collecting fouls, the San Beda faithful made their presence felt: loud, passionate, and fully invested.
It’s the kind of energy that defines the place, the kind that doesn’t simply disappear because a player changes schools. For a former Red Lion, that reaction can sound different, but it still comes from the same deep attachment the community has always had to its team.
“Well, of course, if you’re the other team, you want me to not play well. But at the end of the game, it’s all basketball. I know how the San Beda community is. And they’re just very competitive. They just really love their team. And I know that.”
It wasn’t surprising. It was expected. Understood. Because The Cool Cub had once played on the other end of that same energy.
For Miller, though, the experience felt slightly different. Instead of hostility, what stood out more was something unexpected: recognition, even support.
“I didn’t feel like they were against me. I feel like they showed a lot of love. And yeah, I didn’t feel like they were against me. I think it was just a fun little exhibition game.”
Even in the noise, there was a sense of familiarity that didn’t completely disappear.
“They kept calling my name and I was like, ‘What’s up?’ That was it.”
And maybe that’s what made this homecoming feel less like a rivalry and more like a moment.
Not everything has to end in tension. Not every return has to be about proving something. Sometimes it is simply about seeing what remains after the jersey changes, after the team changes, and after the story moves forward.
“No, I love that… I love the fans,” Janti stated.
Because sometimes, going back to where you came from isn’t about choosing sides.
It’s about recognizing that a part of you will always belong there, no matter which jersey you wear now.
