Green Journal: Joshua Torralba v.1

With the UAAP season in full swing, it’s time to get to know the players who play their hearts out for the school. Through the Green Journal, readers will get a glimpse of the athlete’s personal perspective as the season progresses. The LaSallian sat down with one of the Green Archers’ newest recruits, 6’2’’ swingman Joshua Torralba, to know more about his love for basketball, how far it has taken him, and what he has overcome to get to where he is today.

I come from McAllen City, Texas and it’s similar to the province since there’s no traffic. One of my goals in life was to play Division I (D-1) basketball. I played varsity basketball for Nikki Rowe High School at the age of 14, which is a big accomplishment over there. Being the only Asian player in the community gave me pride. Back home the politics or media really looked down not only on Filipinos but Asians in general or any other race. I would usually see the newspaper with this guy or that and I knew that I could beat them. That was my motivation back then.

I had pretty good honors in high school, got the MVP for a couple of tournaments, and was nominated for the McDonald’s South Texas team but that didn’t push through because some stuff happened. I still made it though. The NBA D-League hosted an all-star game for us and I wasn’t chosen. They chose other guys in my team along with seniors from the other teams. My parents got mad at the board and they didn’t say anything. We were thinking, “Ah ‘cause we’re of different descent?” That fired me up. The numbers I was putting up — not to brag or anything — were pretty good. Grabe talaga. It’s a disgrace and that boosted me to play in Division I.

I was trying to help out my family as well. I didn’t want to pay tuition because it’s very expensive in the States. Even though my parents could afford it, I didn’t want to pay because they worked so hard in the Philippines growing up.

I only got offers from Division II and III schools. There’s a Division I school that liked me a lot but they didn’t offer me a scholarship. I was like, “you can tell me as much as you want, and that I’m good but offer me something.” That was burning inside of me and I was like, “I’m going to go back to the Philippines.” My main goal was to get my name in the media and all that. I felt like I was lacking that in high school, which is sort of the bad reason to play basketball.

Playing for Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC)

I played my first year of college basketball for the EAC Generals in the NCAA here in the Philippines for one season and went back home to the States right after. I felt that I could have gotten better back home. Coming here to the Philippines was super culture shock with the fast-paced city life as opposed to how it was back home. I had a pretty good season contending for Rookie of the Year against Josan Nimes, who eventually got the award.

I had a life-changing season in EAC because I got closer to God. It changed my perspective on life. Young aspiring athletes can be distracted by that spotlight, diba? Pictures and that stuff like [those] were my main goals sometimes.  After an encounter with God I now have that perspective where it’s about Him. I’m thankful for having been able to play for EAC but things will lead on to life for a purpose. I just took it as a stepping stone for my path.

Back home

I was recruited to play for University of Texas Pan-American (UTPA), a D-1 school literally right next to my home. I was like, “Yeah I might be one of the first Filipinos to play Division I basketball besides Japeth Aguilar!” He’s the first pure Filipino but I wanted to be the second.

I sat out one year (because of US-NCAA eligibility rules) but helped out from the bench. I was about to play then my coach and his staff got fired. His replacement came in and brought in his new guys. They didn’t like me and the current players. I was unfortunately kicked off the team and I was like, “this is crazy!”

Joining La Salle

So La Salle went to San Antonio for a coaching clinic with the San Antonio Spurs head coach Greg Popovich after winning the championship back in 2013. Spurs assistant coach, Chip Engelland, who used to play for the Philippines as a naturalized player, saw my film and thought I was a good player. Getting feedback from an NBA coach was awesome! I was able to meet up with the La Salle coaches with the help of Coach Chip. It was definitely a blessing to get the opportunity to go to La Salle. I was thinking, “Maybe this was for me.”

I was really down because I’ve been through everything. I’ve been going from college to college and haven’t really found my home. I was like, “Damn man, this is really for me.” I was having second thoughts on my basketball career. The La Salle coaches saw my film and brought me over and it all started from there.

On my story

I think that my story is like Jeremy Lin’s except mine’s at the college basketball setting as opposed to his, which is in the NBA.  I was in China or Korea and that’s when I saw him, and it was like a confirmation. I thought, “Wow I’m going through the same stuff.” He got cut so many times and Linsanity happened. He once dropped by practice during my UTPA days and I was able to tell him my story. I told him I wanted to be one of the pure Asians to play Division 1 basketball. He told me, “Yeah man keep on doing it. We need more players representing our race.”

Those words stuck to my heart to this day, then my coach in the States got fired and all. I just came to DLSU and I just know that God’s fingerprint has been left everywhere. You could see him working through it like if this thing happened or didn’t happen I wouldn’t be here in DLSU.

I realized that everything points back to God and that’s one of the reasons why I wear number 12. Number one symbolizes Jesus. Him first and everything else second. Now I’ll do it for God’s way talaga. Steph Curry, Manny Pacquiao and other guys stepping up without shame for their faith, I want to do that. I believe that’s my calling and I want to do as much as I can. I’ve been through so much I can’t really sometimes comprehend it. It’s crazy.