Yago, Paulistano's young marvel

Paulistano is a club with 9,000 members; which means that around 22,000 people may use their facilities, because the members’ spouses and their children under the age of 25 are also part of the club. Around 40 sports disciplines are practiced in the facilities that occupy 41,000 square meters of the high-end Jardim América community. And it’s very common for athletes of different events to cross their paths in the gym. It was precisely there, three months ago, that started one of the many love stories that could begin in a club. Yago Mateus, the 19-year-old point guard for the Basketball Team, and Manuella Frediani, 18-year-old judoka, met there while working out. Yago was injured and spent a great amount of time in the gym seeking to recover.

“We spent every afternoon together in the club, we helped each other out with the training that we both needed,” said the point guard. During Group A of Liga de las Américas, where Paulistano were locals, they could be spotted together before the games. She could also be seen encouraging him next to his sister, Ana, and his nephew, Samuel.

Yago arrived at Paulistano in 2017 and since he put on the red and white jersey, he hasn't missed a final: he was second at the 2017 NBB championship, and U19 champion. In 2018 he won the NBB, the Campeonato Paulista, the U19 again and the Interligas de Desarrollo. Liga de las Américas was unfinished business — they’dbeen eliminated in the first phase of the past edition. But, this time around, they didn't fail their fans and got to the Semi-Finals. “This is a club that deserved to get that Semi-Final qualification. We've been working for this. Our goal is to be among the best and to achieve that we must play each game as if it were a final. We have a deep team and that could take us far,” analyzed Mateus.

The team that's being led by Régis Marrelli since this season, plays by the beat of Yago’s drum both inside and outside the court. The young point guard decides the game’s tempo — usually fast — and who also proposes the rhythms — this time, musical — for the locker rooms. The speed and strength of this 1,75-meter point guard are worthy of envy and he acknowledges so: “I go to the gym two times a day, plus training sessions. I know that because of my short height I must have other physical attributes and I work to get them.” Regis had already been Yago’s coach in Palmeiras when the guard was only 16 years old. “I started to play in Tupá, where I was born; then, I went to Rio de Janeiro, and later I came to San Pablo to play first with Palmeiras until I arrived at Paulistano in 2017.” In his time at Palmeiras he had Maximiliano Stanic, Atenas point guard and rival in this Liga de las Américas, as his team mate and friend. The Argentine, minutes before facing him as a rival at the Antônio Prado Júnior Gymnasium, said: “He was very close to me, we trained a lot of individual techniques together. He’s a phenomenon. I asked the coach to let him play even if he still wasn't 16.”

Yago’s influence on his teammates is always evident. Before each game he leads a brief dance for his whole team after the MC’s announcement before the game starts. “I have a very loud personality, I motivate the group, I'm always happy. Outside the game, in which I have a lot of presence this year, sharing positive energy is the most important role I have in the team. I always put on happy music to keep my teammates enthusiastic and I also dance. That’s all part of our growth. The style of music that I like the most is Pagode and I like to put on Thiaguinho and Felipe Araújo. Everyone knows them and enjoys them,” says Yago.

Sitting in first row, almost touching the court, is Helito, Paulistano's most loyal fan. When we asked him to talk about the young player that amazes everyone, he's full of praise: “He’s the only irreplaceable (player). No other player in the Brazilian League could take his place, not even Leandrinho Barbosa. Although he’s not the most representative of our team because he's just arrived, without a doubt, he's the best.”

Another person that sees excellent conditions and an enormous future is Brazil’s national team coach, Aleksandar Petrović — and he’s already summoned him to the team. “One of my short-term objectives is to play in the World Cup in China. I'm working and learning to be able to be a part of the Brazilian national team. Being a leader of my team in a tournament like Liga de las Américas helps me to keep growing in my game,” Yago enthusiastically shares. To try to be a better player every day, Mateus tries to follow the footsteps of some of the best in the world in his position: “I follow Stephen Curry a lot. He also has a great difference of height and physical strength in comparison with his rivals, and he always manages to do something different. I also follow Ricky Rubio and Tony Parker, who are two players that think a lot. I have to score, but I also have to help the team play, so I try to learn from the best, like them.”

The young marvel from Paulistano has already taken their team to the Liga de las Américas Semi-Finals for the first time in their three appearances. But that's not enough for him. He’s aiming for more — much more.

Pablo Cormick
FIBA