Kenneth Tuffin
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Kenneth James Diocares Tuffin (born 5 May 1997) is a Filipino-New Zealand basketball player for the
Phoenix Fuel Masters The Phoenix Fuel Masters is a professional basketball team owned by Phoenix Petroleum, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc., which debuted in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in the 2015–16 PBA season, 2016 2016 PBA Commissioner's C ...
of the
Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...
(PBA).


Early life and education

Tuffin was born on 5 May 1997 in New Zealand, spending his childhood in
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
. As a child, Tuffin had watched games of the New Zealand National Basketball League and his father used to take him to basketball games. For his high school studies, Tuffin attended St. Patrick's College in
Upper Hutt Upper Hutt () is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. History Upper Hutt is in an area originally known as Orongo ...
. He was widely involved in his high school's academic program, playing for St Patrick's basketball,
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
, and
rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...
teams. He moved to 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 ...
at age 18 to pursue collegiate studies at the
Far Eastern University Far Eastern University (), also referred to by its acronym FEU, is a Private university, private research non-sectarian university in Manila, Philippines. Created by the merger of Far Eastern College and the Institute of Accounts, Business and ...
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 ...
.


Collegiate career

Tuffin played for the
FEU Tamaraws The FEU Tamaraws and Lady Tamaraws are the varsity teams of Far Eastern University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). The university's high school varsity teams are called the ''FEU-D Baby Tamaraws, Baby Tamaraws'' ...
basketball team which played at the
University Athletic Association of the Philippines The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila Univ ...
(UAAP). FEU did not finish outside the Final Four, in all seasons that Tuffin played ( Season 79 to 82; 2016–2019). In Season 82, Tuffin was made captain of the Tamaraws.


Professional career


New Zealand


Taranaki Mountaineers (2020)

Tuffin was the 44th overall selection in New Zealand NBL for the 2020 season. He was selected by the
Taranaki Mountainairs The Taranaki Airs are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Pl ...
. Prior to the draft, Tuffin secured consent from FEU to play in the NBL and joined the league as an amateur player. He planned to play professionally after he graduated from FEU to potentially play in the
Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...
. However in December 2020, he decided to forego his final year of eligibility to play for FEU after UAAP Season 83's cancellation and decided to turn professional.


Wellington Saints (2021–2023)

After suiting up for the Taranaki Mountaineers, Tuffin moved to the
Wellington Saints The Wellington Saints are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Wellington. The Saints compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Bank Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as ...
for the
2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
. Tuffin was acquired by Wellington after the team decided to skip the 2020 season. He continued on with the Saints in
2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
and
2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
.


Philippines


Phoenix Fuel Masters (2023–present)

In 2023, he returned to the Philippines and applied for the
PBA season 48 draft The PBA season 48 draft was the 38th edition of the PBA draft. It was held at Market! Market! in Taguig on September 17, 2023. It was an event that allowed teams to take turns selecting amateur basketball players and other eligible players, incl ...
, where he was selected sixth overall by the
Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters The Phoenix Fuel Masters is a professional basketball team owned by Phoenix Petroleum, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc., which debuted in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in the 2015–16 PBA season, 2016 2016 PBA Commissioner's C ...
. On October 2, 2023, he signed a three-year rookie contract with the team.


PBA career statistics

''As of the end of 2023–24 season''


Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left , , align=left , Phoenix Super LPG / Phoenix , 28 , , 30.7 , , .425 , , .352 , , .647 , , 5.0 , , 1.8 , , .6 , , .1 , , 10.7 , -class=sortbottom , align=center colspan=2 , Career , 28 , , 30.7 , , .425 , , .352 , , .647 , , 5.0 , , 1.8 , , .6 , , .1 , , 10.7


National team career

Tuffin is eligible to play for the national teams of 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 ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. He is among the 23 youths included in the Philippines' #23for23 pool of players for the
2023 FIBA World Cup The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 19th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams, held from 25 August to 10 September 2023. The tournament was the second to feature 32 teams and was hosted by multipl ...
. He was also included in New Zealand's pool for the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2022 Commonwealth Games.


Personal life

Tuffin's mother was born in
Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...
,
La Union La Union (), officially the Province of La Union (; ; ; ; ; ), is a coastal province in the Philippines situated in the Ilocos Region on the island of Luzon. The province's capital, the San Fernando, La Union, City of San Fernando, is the most ...
, and has relatives living in the provinces of
Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...
and
Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan (, ; ; ), is a coastal Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capital is Lingayen, Pangasinan, Lingayen while San Carlos, Pangasi ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuffin, Ken 1997 births Living people FEU Tamaraws basketball players Filipino men's basketball players New Zealand men's basketball players New Zealand people of Filipino descent Phoenix Fuel Masters players Small forwards Basketball players from Wellington City Taranaki Mountainairs players Wellington Saints players Phoenix Fuel Masters draft picks 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen 21st-century Filipino sportsmen