Rhenz Abando

Rhenz Joseph Mamuyac Abando (born March 11, 1998) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters of the Korean Basketball League (KBL).

Abando redshirted in 2018.

In the collegiate level, he played for the UST Growling Tigers, reaching the finals of UAAP Season 82 (2019).

After UST held a controversial training camp amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, he transferred to the Letran Knights with whom he won the NCAA Season 97 championship (2022); he was also named NCAA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Rookie of the Year.

In June 2022, he decided to forgo his final year of college eligibility and signed with Anyang KGC of the KBL.

In his rookie season in South Korea, he won the KBL championship, Slam Dunk Contest, and 3x3 All-Star Game.

Abando represented the Philippines national team in the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup and 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Abando played two years at Philippine College of Science and Technology in Pangasinan.

He was coached by former Letran Knight Chris Calaguio.

He was then recruited by Coach Aldin Ayo to play for the UST Growling Tigers in Metro Manila's UAAP.

He also played in the PBA D-League in 2019 with UST and represented the team in the UAAP 3x3 basketball championship for Season 81.

After the tournament, Ateneo star player Thirdy Ravena called him a "threat to the whole league in the next coming years."

In their first game of Season 82, the Tigers attempted 49 threes.

Abando had 15 of those attempts, and made five of them for a 22-point debut.

In their next game which they won against the UP Fighting Maroons, he had an all-around 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals off the bench.

For those performances, he was given the first Player of the Week for the season.

However, in their rematch with UP in the second round, he was benched by Coach Ayo.

The reason was because he was being recruited by two UAAP schools in the middle of the season, and it could have distracted the team.

After affirming his commitment to UST, he was able to play again.

Against the La Salle Green Archers, he made three straight threes in the fourth quarter to cut the 10 point lead of the Archers down to just one.

He almost tied the game for UST, but he had his foot on the line when he made a jumper that could have been the game-tying three.

Instead, La Salle escaped with the 80–79.

At the end of the elimination round, UST faced off against the FEU Tamaraws to start the step-ladder semifinals.

In that game, he and Renzo Subido made back-to-back threes in the third quarter that extended the lead for UST, who eventually came out with the win and were on to the next phase.

The Maroons were their next opponents, with UP having the twice-to-beat advantage.

In Game 1, he and Soulemane Chabi Yo both led the team in scoring with 17, as their hot shooting led UST to the win.

In Game 2, he had 11 points and nine rebounds as UST completed their upset over UP.

In the Finals, UST was swept by the Ateneo Blue Eagles in two games.

He finished that season with averages of 11.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and a team-high 1.3 blocks in 18 games played, while averaging just over 23 minutes off the bench.

In 2020, the UST men's team covertly held a training camp in Sorsogon despite a ban on amateur team sports activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In September, the "bubble" training camp became known to the public.

Abando was among the complainants regarding their poor conditions in the Tigers' "bubble" training.

He shared that no one from the staff was tending to the players who had become sick during their stay there.

Anticipating sanctions on UST due to ongoing investigations, Abando and six of his teammates transferred to other schools.

Meanwhile, Ayo resigned as coach and was banned from the UAAP indefinitely.

Abando, along with his UST teammates Ira Bataller and Brent Paraiso transferred to reigning NCAA champion Letran.

Before making his decision, he was also recruited by San Beda University, Adamson University, and National University.

He chose Letran because of the talent level of the NCAA, he didn't want to face UST in the UAAP, and because he was assured by Coach Bonnie Tan that he wouldn't regret his decision.

Before the start of the season, he played for the San Juan Knights in the inaugural Filbasket season.

Entering Season 97, the Knights were the favorites to win the championship.