Standing tall, standing out: Jack Animam brings more than just her hoop game

Jack Danielle Animam is, hands down, the best Filipina basketball player. But she also is more than just what she does on the court. 

Whenever Animam suits up for battle with her fierce game face, she always appears intense and ready to take on all comers, as if daring the world to bring it on. 

Outside the hardwood, she is a picture of warmth and grace, like a familiar face that lights up with an affectionate smile in the middle of a crowded room occupied mostly by strangers. 

There is that quality in Animam that enthralls, and it’s not only because of her height. The 6-foot-5 Animam has always stood out, figuratively and literally, even from the time she was young.

Her name alone captures people who mistakenly associate it with a popular Tennessee whiskey brand. She clarifies this. 

“My father’s name is Ayo Jackson Animam and he is a Nigerian disc jockey currently living in Malaysia. My parents agreed to name me Jack Danielle after my dad,” she says.

Born on November 27, 1998 at the Saint Michael Clinic and Maternity Hospital in Malolos, Bulacan, Animam spent her younger years in Barangay Lugam, Malolos City. 

Hers was typical of the life of a child in the province. “I played a lot outside with different types of Filipino games like tumbang preso, harangang taga, and Chinese garter,” she fondly recalls. 

But she too went through other experiences common among some Filipino children.

“I mostly grew up with just my brother Reginald and sister Miles since my mom, Erlinda Sto. Tomas, used to be an Overseas Filipino Worker who was based in different countries,” she shares. “My father also wasn’t around. The biggest father figures I had were my brother and my uncle Domingo.”

YOUNG JACK. Animam during her elementary years.

One would think that the self-assured Jack Animam of today was a product of a confident version of herself in her childhood. That was not always the case. 

*As a kid going to school in the Philippines, I endured several moments of being uncomfortable. One reason was that I was always taller than the girls, taller than the boys, and even taller than some of the teachers,” she shares. 

“Another is that I am Afro-Filipina. So I endured some bullying as a kid and this made me feel much different than other kids at that time.”

Her mother’s sacrifice of enduring years of being away in foreign lands just to provide a good life for her children and family sturdied Animam and planted in her the seeds of industry and the curiosity to want to get to know more about life outside the province. 

*As a student, I felt that I wasn’t the smartest. But I worked very hard and that led me to becoming one of the top students of my class,” she says. 

“I received several academic awards as an honor student. My favorite subjects were History and English because I have always been big on reading. I enjoy learning about historic events that have shaped the world today.”

And now, through basketball, she has gotten to see the world with pro stints in Asia, Australia, and across Europe.

BEAMING. Off the court, Jack Animam is known for her ready smile.

After finishing an undefeated college career with the National University Lady Bulldogs in the UAAP, Animam played one more year of college basketball for the Shin Hsin University in the University Basketball Association (UBA) of Taiwan where she won another championship. 

She became the first homegrown player, male or female, from the Philippines to play as an import in Europe when she was signed up by ŽKK Radnički Kragujevac in the Women’s Serbian League in 2021. She averaged 20 points and 14.3 rebounds before going down with an injury. 

After a layoff of over a year to recover, she played in France for premier division team Toulouse Metropole Basket and for USO Mondeville in the French second division; in China for the Wuhan Shengfan; and in Australia for the Ringwood Hawks. 

This season, she took her talents to the Liga Națională, the top women’s division in Romania, where she averaged 19.9 points, 13.6 rebounds, and 2.8 steals to lead the FCC Baschet UAV Arad to a semifinal finish.

IMPORT. Jack Animam in overseas basketball action.

The opportunity to play in Romania, in Animam’s books, has been the best experience thus far in her professional career.

“The environment created by the FCC UAV Arad management, the great fan base, and the high level of competition playing other clubs in this league have all been good. And to add, I really enjoy the city of Arad and the neighboring city of Timisoara,” she says.

That basketball would be the vehicle for her to go globe-trotting was not high in her list of childhood dreams.

She wanted to become a nurse or an architect. At one point, she developed a fixation with her mother’s hair, that she conjured thoughts of opening a salon. 

Basketball was not even programmed in the mind of a young Jack, whose inclination in athletics began with a different sport. 

“When I was in elementary, I was into badminton. I had the opportunity to represent my school in the city meet,” she narrates. 

“In high school, I continued to train as a badminton player. But one day, I was called to the principal’s office, where the principal asked me if I could play basketball for our girls team. He didn’t even ask if I was actually interested in playing basketball.”

“I never imagined that I could be a professional athlete playing basketball internationally, but I am so grateful that this has become my passion and profession,” she adds.

FOCUSED. National team stalwart Jack Animam in action for Gilas Pilipinas Women.

Animam is a young, independent woman who enjoys the fruits of her hard work and the perks that come with her job, such as traveling and getting introduced to different cultures. 

Since she spends the majority of the year abroad, she visits different cities during her days off and eats in different restaurants in the various countries she has lived in. 

These are small self-rewards for someone whose grit and relentless drive have made her reach territories that remain unchartered by other basketball players from the Philippines.  

And like her mother before her and other Filipinos working abroad, she too misses the comforts of home, especially the food. 

*My favorite dishes are sinigang na baboy and adobong manok. My comfort food include the super meal from Jollibee, chocolate ice cream, and pepperoni pizza with cream cheese from S&R,” she shares.

Jack Danielle Animam is the face of the Gilas Pilipinas women’s basketball team. And she is also a traveler, an explorer, a foodie, a daughter, a sister. 

True to character, and as she has been throughout her life, she will remain incessant in her search for new horizons as she continues to blaze a trail for others to find unknown heights to scale. – Raapler.com