Last October, Sage Tolentino had one of the brightest days of his young career, committing to Auburn and coach Bruce Pearl.
As of Monday, the 7-foot junior has de-committed from the Tigers. In a post on Instagram, he announced his decision in four sentences.
“After a lot of discussion and talking with my family and coaches, I have to decided to reopen my recruitment and want to keep my options open at this time. I would like to thank Coach Pearl and the entire coaching staff at Auburn for believing in me since day one. I’m humbled for the offer and opportunity they have given me. Mahalo and God Bless. (signed) Sage
Since his oral commitment to Auburn, news has been on the down side for the program. In November, one month after Tolentino committed, the school established a self-imposed postseason ban during an investigation into bribery charges against former assistant coach Chuck Person.
The Tigers were 13-14 in the abbreviated 2020-21 season, including 7-11 in SEC play.
Prior to Auburn, the smooth-shooting forward-center had offers from Kansas and Tennessee State after leaving Hawaii to train year-round with East West Private. He had planned to return to Maryknoll for basketball season in the 2020-21 year, but the season was cancelled due to the pandemic.
As a sophomore, Tolentino was voted No. 3 in the Star-Advertiser all-state Fab 15 and was No. 1 in the all-defense rankings.
He better off going to a mid or better yet low major. Many kids have unfortunately gone to big schools that they were never going to sniff court at and end up wasting away eligibility.
Just sign with Hawaii & raise their level of play like The UH Men’s volleyball NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!
The weird thing is that even at 7 feet he was never Hawaiis most dominant player during his time here. He will have a hard time at the D1 level imo.