Janrey Pasaol Embracing Bigger Role for FEU

Every team eventually reaches that point where younger players stop being rookies.

Suddenly, they become the veterans everyone else looks toward.

For the FEU Tamaraws, that transition has slowly started happening with players like Janrey Pasaol.

After FEU lost key veterans and scorers over the past few seasons, the responsibility naturally shifted toward the players who stayed behind. And according to head coach Sean Chambers, Pasaol is one of the players expected to help carry that load offensively now.

Pasaol sees that situation as less like pressure and more like trust.

“Siguro para sa akin parang privilege yun kasi si Coach Sean isa sa mga greatest ng PBA. So binigyan niya ako ng task na gano’n so sobrang grateful ako.”

The responsibility means even more to him because many of the teammates surrounding him now are the same people he grew up competing alongside during FEU’s junior program years. What used to be a younger core trying to learn together has slowly become the older group expected to lead the program forward.

“Kami-kami na lang din yung magkakasama e kasi sila din yung mga nakasama ko din nung nagchampion ng Season 85 sa juniors,” Pasaol shared.

That familiarity probably makes the adjustment feel easier too. Leadership doesn’t always arrive dramatically. Sometimes it happens quietly when players suddenly realize they’ve become the experienced ones inside the locker room.

“Sobrang happy and sobrang grateful lang din na binigyan ako ng task na gano’n ni Coach Sean.”

Of course, being one of the players expected to generate points naturally comes with expectations too—especially for someone known as a shooter. Missed shots become more noticeable. Offensive struggles feel heavier. And once coaches openly trust you to produce offensively, people start paying closer attention to every performance.

But interestingly, Pasaol doesn’t really sound like someone consumed by that pressure.

“Basketball is basketball pa rin e. Kung ano yung laro ko lang, yun lang din yung nilalaro.”

Even after difficult games, his mentality barely changes.

“Minsan nag-off man ako sa game, pero sa next game, yung mentality ko pa rin is tumira nang tumira.”

That confidence comes from repetition too.

Pasaol’s preparation has always been fairly simple: work harder during practice and keep shooting.

“Sobrang go hard lang lagi sa practice, then extra shooting. So yun, lumalabas lang din sa game.”

That straightforward mentality probably reflects why he carries himself calmly even while FEU places more offensive responsibility on him. He doesn’t overcomplicate the role. He doesn’t sound obsessed with statistics or expectations.

Instead, he talks like someone simply trying to stay consistent enough to help his team win.

And outside basketball, his life sounds just as simple too.

Just like any one of us, he admits that most of his free time usually revolves around one thing: sleep.

“Siguro ano, tulog lang. Siyempre daming ensayo, sobrang pagod.”

Still, there’s one hobby he’s casually picked up lately alongside teammates and athletes from other sports: pickleball.

Like many athletes discovering the sport recently, he didn’t exactly plan on becoming interested in it seriously. It started casually after some football players inside FEU bought pickleball equipment and started playing. 

“Parang laro-laro lang. May bumili kasi ng pickleball sa school namin, mga football.”

Eventually, the games became part of post-practice routines whenever players still had energy left after training.

“Pagkatapos ng game, if may extra energy pa, maglaro ng pickleball.”

What makes it fun for him is the mix of people playing together. Sometimes his teammates join. Sometimes football players. Sometimes everyone ends up inside the same game.

“Football players and teammates, halo-halo lang kami.”

Living in the same dorms naturally helped create those friendships too.

“Same lang kasi kami ng dorm ng football eh, so magkaclose din naman.”

And among his teammates, there’s usually one person he ends up consistently dragging into games with him, and it’s Kirby Mongcopa. 

“Si Kirby lang. Si Kirby naglalaro din ng pickleball sa kanila.”

It’s a small detail, but maybe that’s also what makes Janrey Pasaol easy to root for as FEU continues adjusting into a new era.

Because even while becoming one of the players Coach Sean Chambers now counts on offensively, he still carries himself in a calm, uncomplicated way.

Just a shooter trusted to step up for FEU now—and willing to keep shooting no matter what happened in the previous game. Because even as his role continues to grow, Pasaol still carries himself the same way: enjoying the game, staying grounded, and trusting where his journey takes him.

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