The UP Fighting Maroons strut their stuff in sleek black jerseys during their second round matchup with title rivals De La Salle Green Archers in UAAP Season 87.
The UP Fighting Maroons turned heads even before tip-off during their rivalry match against the DLSU Green Archers at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday night.
After wearing either maroon or white for all of their games this season, the Diliman squad turned up in new, sleek, black jerseys. Debuting a new design, the dark-colored kits made quite the contrast against La Salle’s white ones.
Though some speculated that the new jerseys had to do with the passing of UP big man Quentin Millora-Brown’s grandfather--which prompted the Fil-Am to miss the game--assistant coach Christian Luanzon clarified that the uniforms were something that have been in the works for some time.
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But with Millora-Brown’s grandfather being an alumnus of UP, the timing was something that they welcomed.
“I think matagal nang plano 'yun. I’m not sure if it's the first time [we’ve done this]. I think first time this season. Hindi ako sure kung last season nagawa namin. Pero siguro nagkataon lang. Nagkataon lang,” said Luanzon.
“Pero maganda 'yung timing obviously with the QMB, with what happened to his grandfather, who he was very close to.”
The jerseys were produced as an alternate colorway to UP’s maroon and white, which marked one of the few times that an alternate or third color jersey made its way to the UAAP.
Back in Season 81, the UST Golden Tigresses wore a special black jersey to honor their injured teammate Milena Alessandrini in a game against the DLSU Lady Spikers.
While uncommon in the UAAP, alternate jerseys aren’t unique in sports — with special edition jerseys prolific in other leagues like the NBA, football clubs also have third kits apart from their home-and-away kits.
A fan of the jerseys himself, Luanzon said that he hopes that UP will eventually wear the kits again later this season.
“I hope so,” he said, of whether or not they’ll repeat the black jerseys. “Maganda naman siya talaga.”