Jack Danielle Santo Tomas Animam (born November 27, 1998) is a Filipino professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for FCC UAV Arad of the Romanian Liga Națională. She also represents the Philippine national team.

Early life and education

A native of

Malolos Malolos , officially the City of Malolos (), is a component city and capital of the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 261,189 people. It is the capital city of the province of Bulacan as the ...

Bulacan Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan (; ; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on ...

, Animam was born to Ayo Jackson Animam from

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

and Erlinda Santo Tomas. Her mother was an

Overseas Filipino Worker Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) is a term often used to refer to Filipino migrant workers, people with Filipino citizenship who reside in another country for a limited period of employment. The number of these workers was roughly 1.77 million ...

. She reluctantly took up basketball when she was in high school and was just convinced by her school's principal to join their varsity team since they lack players. Animam's hesitation to take up the sport is due to the notion that basketball is a men's sports, and women that do play the sport are lesbians. Animam studied at the

National University A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. In the United States, the term "national university" connotes the highe ...

(NU) in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

for her collegiate studies. She entered

Shih Hsin University Shih Hsin University (SHU; ) is a university in Taipei, Taiwan. SHU is best known for its media and mass communication departments in Taiwan, founded in Muzha, Taipei in 1956. History Shih Hsin University was re-established in Taiwan in 1956 ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

in 2020 to earn a master's degree in public relations as a student-athlete. She wanted to obtain her master's degree at NU, but the university did not offer any master's degree on business administration at that time.

College career

National University (Philippines)

Animam became skilled enough to be brought to the

by coach Patrick Aquino while she was still in high school and was included in the NU Lady Bulldogs senior pool, since they don't have a girls' junior program. She became a key player for the NU Lady Bulldogs playing for the team for six years. The Bulldogs won six straight women's basketball UAAP titles with Animam, although Animam herself did not feature in the best of three finals of

UAAP Season 82 UAAP Season 82 was the 2019–20 athletic year of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). The season was hosted by the Ateneo de Manila University. The eight member universities of the UAAP competed in the league's sixtee ...

due to an eye injury. She was also named part of the UAAP Mythical Five four times, won the Rookie of the Year in 2015, given an MVP award in 2017, and was named Finals MVP in 2018.

Shin Hsin University

In 2019, the

offered her to play for their team which competes in Taiwan's University Basketball Association (UBA). Amidst the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, she moved to Taiwan in October 2020 and made her debut for the Tigers on November 16, 2020. While playing with the Tigers in the UBA, she had to adjust having been accustomed to a more physical style of play which is more prevalent in the Philippines to lessen her chances of being given a foul. She helped her team clinch the 2020–21 season with a 18–0 win–loss record. Animam helped her team clinch the 2020–21 UBA championship, with the Tigers winning all their 18 games for that season.

Club career

After the 2020–21 UBA season Animam joined United States-based talent agency East West Private (EWP) and went to Ohio to undergo training as part of a long term bid to get into the WNBA. She then suit 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 likewised mentored and advised by fellow basketballer

Imani McGee-Stafford Imani Trishawn McGee-Stafford (born October 11, 1994) is an American professional basketball player. She played college basketball for University of Texas at Austin. College In 2015, while at Texas, McGee-Stafford was awarded the Honda Inspira ...

Radnički Kragujevac (2021)

In August 2021, Animam joined ŽKK Radnički Kragujevac of the

First Women's Basketball League of Serbia The First Women's Basketball League of Serbia (; abbr. ПЖЛС or PŽLS), is a top-tier women's professional basketball league in Serbia. Founded in 2006, it is run by the Basketball Federation of Serbia (KSS). The league is divided into two ...

under a contract that would last until March 2022. Animam made her debut for Radnički in October 2021. She contributed 20 points in her team's 78–77 win against Proleter 023. 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 the eight games she did play, Animam recorded an average of 20.0 points and 14.3 rebounds. 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 2022.

Toulouse Metropole Basket (2023)

Animam returned playing, joining Toulouse Metropole Basket of the Ligue Féminine de Basketball in France in January 2023.

Union Sportive Ouvrière Mondeville Basket (2023)

After her stint in Toulouse Metropole Basket, She transferred with USO Mondeville in March 2023.

Wuhan Shengfan (2023–24)

Animam accepted an offer to play for the Wuhan Shengfan of the

Women's Chinese Basketball Association The Women's Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the WCBA, is the first-tier professional women's basketball league in China. It was established in 2002 as the women's counterpart to the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). ...

while playing for the Philippines in the

2023 FIBA Women's Asia Cup The 2023 FIBA Women's Asia Cup was the 30th edition of the tournament, held from 26 June to 2 July 2023 in Sydney, Australia. This was the first time Australia hosted this tournament. The top four teams qualified for the 2024 Women's Olympic Qual ...

. She played for Shengfan in the 2023–24 season. She played 35 games for Wuhan and had an average record of 11.4 points and 12 rebounds.

Ringwood Hawks (2024)

In March 2024, Animam would move to Australia to join the

Ringwood Hawks Ringwood Hawks is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Ringwood Basketball Association (RBA), the major administrative basketball organisation in ...

NBL1 South NBL1 South is a semi-professional basketball league in Victoria (state), Victoria and Tasmania, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2019, Basketball Victoria partnered with the National Basketball League (Australia), ...

FCC UAV Arad (2024–)

Romanian club FCC UAV Arad announced on 28 August 2024 that they have signed in Animam for the 2024–25 season. The team finished third for that season.

National team career

Animam has represented the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, being the youngest Filipino player at the 2015 FIBA Asia Women's Championship at age 16. She has played for her country in other international basketball competitions such as the 2016 SEABA Championship, and the

2019 Southeast Asian Games The 2019 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 30th Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games, and commonly known as Philippines 2019, were the 30th edition of the SEA Games, Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport ...

. At the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, Animam was two-time gold medalist helping clinch the women's team and women's 3x3 title for the Philippines. Animam is also part of the national 3x3 team which competed for the Philippines at the 2018 FIBA 3x3 World Cup and the 2019 FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup.

Advocacy

Animam has been an advocate for women's basketball in the Philippines, especially after her 2018 FIBA 3x3 World Cup stint. She has urged for the establishment of a women's league in the Philippines where collegiate women basketball players could continue their career.

Awards and recognition

The Philippine Sportswriters Association conferred Animam the title of Ms. Basketball for its 2019 PSA Annual Awards Night held in early 2020. Animam is the first ever player to be given the recognition by the sports journalist organization.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Animam, Jack 1998 births Living people Competitors at the 2019 SEA Games Filipino women's basketball players Basketball players from Bulacan People from Malolos Philippines women's national basketball team players SEA Games medalists in basketball SEA Games gold medalists for the Philippines NU Lady Bulldogs basketball players Filipino expatriate basketball people in Taiwan Filipino expatriate basketball people in the United States Shih Hsin University alumni Filipino people of Nigerian descent Filipino expatriate basketball people in Serbia SEA Games medalists in 3x3 basketball Competitors at the 2023 SEA Games SEA Games silver medalists for the Philippines Basketball players at the 2022 Asian Games Filipino expatriate basketball people in China