Jiovani Nacawili Jalalon (born August 2, 1992) is a Filipino professional basketball player who currently plays for the

Magnolia Hotshots The Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, or simply known as the Magnolia Hotshots, are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team is owned by San Miguel Food and Beverage, Inc., a subsidiary of San Migue ...

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 franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

(PBA).

Early life

The third of the six children of Vicente Jalalon and Jocelyn Nacawili, Jiovani was born on August 2, 1992 to a poor family in Cagayan de Oro City. His inspiration in playing basketball is the unrealized dreams of his father, whose lack of a proper education and opportunities denied him of a chance of becoming a basketball player himself. Jiovani has a younger brother, Jericho, who also plays basketball. Jalalon attended the Sacred Heart of Jesus Montessori School in Cagayan de Oro City before he went to Manila to pursue a spot in a college varsity team.

College career

Jalalon first played college basketball for Informatics College in the

National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities The National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (NAASCU) is an athletic association of colleges and universities in the Philippines. It was established in 2001. NAASCU sports are men's, women's and junior's basketball, men' ...

(NAASCU), but later transferred to

Arellano University Arellano University (AU) is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian university located in Manila, the Philippines. It was founded in 1938 as a law school by Florentino Cayco Sr., the first Filipino Undersecretary of Public Instruction. The univ ...

to join the Chiefs in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA). During his rookie year, he served as the chief backup to the Chiefs' main playmaker

John Pinto John Pinto (December 15, 1924 – May 24, 2019) was an American politician. He served as a Democratic member of the New Mexico Senate from 1977 until his death in 2019. Early life Pinto was born in Lupton, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation ...

. Though he was coming off the bench, Jalalon was the Chiefs’ fourth-leading scorer in the Filoil Flying V Premier Cup. By his sophomore season, he averaged 12.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 2.8 steals, earning him the Most Improved Player Award and a spot in the NCAA Season 90 Mythical Five. Arellano made its first-ever NCAA Finals appearance, but eventually lost to five-peat champions

San Beda Red Lions The San Beda Red Lions is the collegiate varsity basketball team of the San Beda University that plays in the NCAA. The juniors basketball team is called the Red Cubs of San Beda University–Rizal, while the women's varsity basketball team is c ...

in two games. Jalalon improved even more in his third year, making the Mythical Team once again. The Chiefs, however, failed to advance to the Final Four when they lost to the

Mapua Cardinals Mapua, Māpua, or Mapúa may refer to: * Mapuá River, a river in the Pará state of north-central Brazil *Māpua, New Zealand, a small town on the South Island of New Zealand *Mapúa University, a tertiary institute in Manila, Philippines *Tomás M ...

in the playoff game for fourth spot despite Jalalon's 37 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals. In the succeeding season, Arellano made a return to the NCAA Finals but lost once again to San Beda. Jalalon played extremely well the entire season to clinch his third Mythical Team inclusion. He was the only non-center – and the only local player – to be part of the elite list. Mapua's Allwell Oraeme was named the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP), after accumulating 65.12 points in player all-around value (PAV) to beat Jalalon, who had 57.50 PAV. The situation prompted the NCAA management to review the way individual awards are to be determined in the future, as many felt that there should have been a separate award for best import, so as to award the MVP to the best local player. Even before he wrapped up his collegiate career, Jalalon had earned the reputation as the best point guard in Philippine college basketball. His style of play had also drawn comparison to that of PBA veteran, national player, and superstar point guard

Jayson Castro Jayson Castro William (born June 30, 1986) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the TNT Tropang Giga of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). His moniker is "The Blur" for his speed. He played for the Philippine Christian Un ...

Amateur career

Jalalon also played in the

PBA Developmental League The PBA Developmental League, or PBA D-League, is the Philippine Basketball Association's official minor league basketball organization. History The PBA D-League was conceptualized after the collapse of the proposed merger between the Phil ...

(PBA D-League) during the NCAA offseason. In the league's 2015 Foundation Cup, Jalalon suited up for KeraMix. He joined the Caida Tile Masters during the

2016 PBA D-League Aspirants' Cup The 2016 PBA D-League Aspirants Cup was the first conference of the 2015-16 PBA Developmental League season. It was opened on January 21, 2016 at the Filoil Flying V Center and competed by 9 teams and it was finished on April 14, 2016 where the Ph ...

Professional career

On October 30, 2016, Jalalon was picked by the

Star Hotshots The Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, or simply known as the Magnolia Hotshots, are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team is owned by San Miguel Food and Beverage, Inc., a subsidiary of San Migu ...

in the 2016 PBA draft. He had an impressive PBA debut, putting up 11 points, five boards, one assist, and one steal in almost 22 minutes off the bench in the Hotshots’ 88–96 loss to San Miguel Beermen. The next game, Jalalon also puts up an impressive statline of numbers as he recorded 13 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal in 27 minutes of playing time in a loss to the

GlobalPort Batang Pier The NorthPort Batang Pier is a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) team that first played in the 2012–13 PBA season. The team took over the franchise of the Powerade Tigers in 2012 after it was sold to Sultan 900 Capital, Inc. Besides Nor ...

. In his third game, Jalalon have another impressive statline as he recorded 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals in at least 24 minutes of playing time in a 99–75 win over the NLEX Road Warriors.

PBA career statistics

''As of the end of 2021 season''
Real GM

Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left , , align=left , 2016–17 Star Hotshots, Star , 48 , , 22.2 , , .425 , , .327 , , .721 , , 4.3 , , 3.1 , , 1.2 , , .0 , , 9.2 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

, 54 , , 23.8 , , .380 , , .234 , , .641 , , 4.7 , , 5.0 , , 1.7 , , .0 , , 8.4 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 52 , , 25.3 , , .377 , , .281 , , .732 , , 4.9 , , 4.4 , , 1.7 , , .1 , , 9.9 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 12 , , 23.2 , , .417 , , .286 , , .765 , , 4.2 , , 3.3 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 8.6 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 40 , , 23.3 , , .423 , , .286 , , .691 , , 3.9 , , 5.2 , , 1.2 , , – , , 8.4 , -class=sortbottom , align=center colspan=2 , Career , 206 , , 23.7 , , .399 , , .279 , , .699 , , 4.5 , , 4.3 , , 1.5 , , .0 , , 8.9

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jalalon, Jio 1992 births Living people Basketball players from Misamis Oriental Magnolia Hotshots players Arellano Chiefs basketball players Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Philippines men's national basketball team players Filipino men's basketball players Point guards Southeast Asian Games gold medalists for the Philippines Southeast Asian Games medalists in basketball Sportspeople from Cagayan de Oro Competitors at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games Magnolia Hotshots draft picks