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

Toulouse Métropole Basket Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

of the Ligue Féminine de Basketball. She also represents the Philippine national team.

Early life and education

A native of Malolos, Bulacan, Animam was born to Ayo Jackson Animam from Nigeria and Erlinda Santo Tomas. Her mother was an Overseas Filipino Worker. 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. Some national universities are associated with national cultural or po ...

(NU) in Manila for her collegiate studies. She entered Shih Hsin University in Taiwan 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 Patrick Henry Aquino (born May 30, 1971) is a Filipino basketball coach who serves as the head coach of the Philippines women's national basketball team, he has been appointed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas since December 2014 when the te ...

while she was still in high school and was included in the

NU Lady Bulldogs The National University Bulldogs are the collegiate men's varsity teams of National University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The collegiate women's varsity teams are called the ''Lady Bulldogs'' while the high school ...

senior pool, since they don't have a girls' junior program. She became a key player for the

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 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 Shih Hsin University offered her to play for their team which competes in Taiwan's University Basketball Association (UBA). Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, 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–present)

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 ( sr, Прва женска лига Србије, Prva ženska liga Srbije; abbr. ПЖЛС or PŽLS), is a top-tier women's professional basketball league in Serbia. Founded in 2006, it is run by th ...

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.

National team career

Animam has represented the Philippines, being the youngest Filipino player at the

2015 FIBA Asia Women's Championship The 2015 FIBA Asia Women's Championship was the qualifying tournament for FIBA Asia at the women's basketball tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The tournament was held in Wuhan, China. The championship was divid ...

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, was the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport event which ...

. 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 The 2018 FIBA 3x3 World Cup, hosted by the Philippines, was an international 3x3 basketball event that featured separate competitions for men's and women's national teams. The tournament ran between 8 and 12 June 2018 in Bocaue, Bulacan, just nort ...

and the

2019 FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup The 2019 FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup was the fourth edition of the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup. The games of the final tournament were held in Changsha, China between 24 May and 26 May 2019. Participating teams The FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup has a men's and women's tourname ...

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 The 2019 San Miguel Corporation – PSA Annual Awards was an annual awarding ceremony recognizing the top athletes, coaches, officials, sports personalities (both living or deceased), National Sports Associations and sports-related organizations ...

Night held in early 2020. Animam is the first ever player to be given the recognition by the sports journalist organization.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Animam, Jack 1998 births Living people Competitors at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games Filipino women's basketball players People from Bulacan People from Malolos Philippines women's national basketball team players Southeast Asian Games medalists in basketball Southeast Asian Games gold medalists for the Philippines Southeast Asian Games competitors 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 Southeast Asian Games medalists in 3x3 basketball