Nico Salva

Nicolas Raymond J. Salva (born March 8, 1990) is a Filipino basketball player who last played for the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

In all of those years, Salva has won a UAAP championship and was the Finals MVP in 2011 and 2012, his final two years in college.

Salva joined a recruiting class that included Ryan Buenafe, Justin Chua, and Frank Golla.

In his freshman debut, he got his first UAAP point by scoring one point from the free throw line.

He got his first championship that season when Ateneo swept DLSU in the UAAP Finals of Season 71, and he also made the All-Rookie Team, along with Buenafe.

For his second season, Salva played a vital role as the power forward off the bench, despite being undersized at 6'3". Increasing his numbers to 8.1 points, 4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks, he won the Sixth Man of the Year award for Season 72. He was suspended for one game for punching Jens Knuttel of the FEU Tamaraws. That year, Ateneo clinched a UAAP title, a UNIGAMES championship, and a Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) title.

In his third year, Salva had to step up some more as Ateneo lost its Finals MVP Rabeh Al-Hussaini to graduation, along with several key players in Jai Reyes and Noy Baclao.

In their first game of Season 73, he missed a game-winner against FEU.

Against the UP Fighting Maroons, he scored 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

At the end of the first round of eliminations, he had led Ateneo in scoring with nearly 13 points a game, while supplying six rebounds.

However, in a rematch against UP in the second round, he injured his finger.

Following the injury, and increased defensive pressure on him from opponents, he had a four-game stretch where he totaled just 16 points, capped by a zero-point, 0-for-6 line in a loss to UE.

He was able to bounce back once his finger healed, as he grabbed a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds against the Adamson Falcons.

In the postseason, he normed 10 points and 6.7 boards to help lead Ateneo to a three-peat.

In the third game of his fourth season, Salva contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds as Ateneo won over the NU Bulldogs.

He then had 14 points in a win over the UST Growling Tigers, their sixth straight that season.

In a win over FEU, he scored 18 points with nine rebounds.

In a rematch against UST, he scored 20 as Ateneo grabbed in ninth straight win.

Ateneo then blew out DLSU for its 11th straight win, in which he had 19 points.

He then had 16 points, six rebounds, and two blocks in another win over UP.

They only lost one game throughout the entire two elimination rounds, which was against Adamson and in which he only made two of his eight shots.

In Game 1 of the Finals, he scored 24 points on a perfect eight for eight shooting display, and also made all eight of his free throws.

The following game, he scored 15 as he won his fourth straight UAAP title, and his first Finals MVP award.

During the championship bonfire for Season 74, Salva boldly claimed that Ateneo would win one more title the following year, completing a five-peat.

To begin Season 75, he scored 14 points and six rebounds for a win over Adamson.

Against La Salle, he had 16 points and seven boards as Ateneo got its third win in four games.

In a win over UP, he finished with 21 points (with 11 coming in the second quarter), five rebounds, and three assists while going 6-of-10 from the field and making all nine of his free throws.

In a rematch against Adamson, he scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter as Ateneo qualified for the playoffs.

They made it back to the Finals where in Game 1, he scored a career-high 30 points and Ateneo won.

In scoring 30 points, he became only the third Atenean to score 30 or more in a UAAP Finals game, after LA Tenorio and Al-Hussaini.

He was limited to just eight the following game, but Ateneo still managed to win, and he received his fifth UAAP championship.

He was selected 11th overall in the 2013 PBA draft by the Batang Pier.

Salva played for both the La Salle Greenies and the San Beda Red Cubs in the NCAA Juniors division.

In his final high school season, he averaged 20.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.5 blocks as his team almost upset the Letran Squires in the NCAA Final Four, and made the NCAA Mythical Five.

He had offers to play for DLSU, UP (his father's alma mater), and stay with San Beda, but he chose to play for Ateneo.

He chose Ateneo after a personal meeting with businessman and Ateneo sports patron Manny V. Pangilinan.

Salva played college basketball for Ateneo Blue Eagles of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) for five years.

Salva was drafted by GlobalPort Batang Pier eleventh overall in the 2013 PBA draft.

He was among six Ateneo players taken in that draft, along with Greg Slaughter, Buenafe, Justin Chua, JP Erram, and Chris Sumalinog.

Aside from him, the Batang Pier also drafted Terrence Romeo, RR Garcia, and Isaac Holstein.