WKU Basketball: Former Topper Aguilar Ejected After Melee

You may have seen video of a massive brawl between the Philippines and Australia in the FIBA Asian qualifier game in Manila, Philippines on…

You may have seen video of a massive brawl between the Philippines and Australia in the FIBA Asian qualifier game in Manila, Philippines on Monday.

13 players were ejected, a former and a current NBA player were right in the middle of the action, and players from the Philippines threw objects at the Australians. What an absolute debacle.

To add to the horror for Topper fans, former Darrin Horn recruit and Filipino phenom, Japeth Aguilar, was one of the nine players ejected for the Philippines.

Aguilar played sparingly for WKU between 2007 and 2009, battling injuries and struggling to adjust to the NCAA pace before graduating in 2009.

Aguilar has since been playing professionally, mostly in the Philippines. He had a sniff at the NBA D-League a few years ago, but has since settled into a role back in his home country as a rim protector and solid role player for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and the Filipino national squad.

Meanwhile, FIBA officials are reviewing the brawl’s gruesome details and will dole out punishments as soon as the case is reviewed in full.

On a positive note, Aguilar is one of three (at least) former WKU players participating in the FIBA qualifiers. Former Sun Belt Conference MVP and NCAA Tournament hero, Orlando Mendez-Valdez, led Mexico in a massive upset of Team USA on Thursday, and Dwight Coleby, before beginning play with the Pelicans in the Summer League, played just over seven minutes and logged a rebound in the Bahamas’ loss to the Virgin Islands, also happening on Monday.