Gilas Women Center Jack Animam to Play in NBL1
Filipina basketball sensation Jack Animam will continue her overseas career. The Gilas Women’s Center has signed with an Australian club. Her next destination will be with Ringwood Hawks in the NBL1, a semi-professional league down under. After productive stints in Serbia, France, and most recently, China, she will be donning an Australian club jersey at the league’s South Conference.
Jack Animam already had a glorious career, winning five UAAP championships with National University and being a multiple SEA Games medalist. She last played with Wuhan in the China-WCBA, where she showcased all-around numbers of 11.4 points, 12 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 2.1 steals per game across 35 games. Despite her remarkable performance, she didn’t carry her team to success, as they finished 14th out of 19 teams with a 10-26 record.
This time, the 6-foot-5 center will focus her skills on the Australian courts, where she joins the Hawks, a team that made the playoffs in the 2023 NBL1 season. She follows the path of Kai Sotto, who played with the Adelaide 36ers for two seasons. She is expected to debut for Ringwood as the Hawks will go head-to-head with the Kilsyth Cobras in their season opener on Wednesday, April 3.
Animam started her basketball career at National University, where she played for six years. She towed the Bulldogs to their sixth straight women’s basketball UAAP title, although an Eye Injury prevented her from participating in the best-of-three finals of UAAP Season 82. She was also named part of the UAAP Mythical Five four times, won the Rookie of the Year award in 2015, received an MVP award in 2017, and was named Finals MVP in 2018.
In 2019, Animam embarked on an international journey after Shih Hsin University offered her a spot on their team, which competes in Taiwan’s University Basketball Association (UBA). Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, she moved to Taiwan in October 2020 and debuted for the Tigers on November 16, 2020.
Playing with the Tigers in the UBA helped her adjust to calm her playing style after getting used to a more physical style of play in the Philippines to lessen her chances of being given a foul. Animam was vital in helping her team clinch the 2020–21 season with an 18–0 win–loss record. Her team also won the 2020–21 UBA championship with the Tigers.
After her stint in Taiwan, Animam decided to chase her WNBA dreams by signing up with the United States-based talent agency East West Private (EWP) and going to Ohio to undergo training. Her training had prospered as she suited up for the Zone 6 Celtics in the Atlanta Entertainment Basketball League (AEBL). Animam spent three months of training under Coach Dante Harlan with EWP. She was likewise mentored and advised by fellow basketballer Imani McGee-Stafford.
With her WNBA dreams not going to fruition, she decided to join ŽKK Radnički Kragujevac of the First Women’s Basketball League of Serbia in August 2021. Her contract would last until March 2022. She made her debut for Radnički in October 2021 and scored a rousing 20 points in her team’s 78–77 win against Proleter 023.
Unfortunately, in December 2021, Animam sustained ACL and MCL injuries, which made her unavailable for at least six months, effectively ending her 2021–22 season run. In eight games she played in Serbia, Animam averaged outstanding numbers of 20.0 points and 14.3 rebounds per game. She went back to the United States to undergo surgery and to recover from her injuries. She would recover and be cleared to play again in October 2.
Jack Animam recovered and continued her basketball career with Toulouse Metropole Basket of the Ligue Féminine de Basketball in France in January 2023. After her stint in Toulouse Metropole Basket, She transferred to USO Mondeville in March 2023. She last played with the Wuhan Shengfan of the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association in the 2023–24 season.
Actually, basketball was not Animam’s first love, as badminton was her first sport. She was playing badminton when her principal offered her to join the girls’ basketball team during high school. She did not accept the invitation, but her principal was persistent (probably due to her height) and led her to play sports that she had no prior knowledge of.
It was a blessing in disguise as it made a turning point in her career.
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