He spent most of high school at Carson High School in the United States where he finished Level 10, which did not qualify him for a diploma. Cardona eventually came back home to the Philippines and took the DECS (now DepEd) Philippine Educational Placement Test (PEPT) to be eligible for admission to college. With the intent of using his basketball skills as a passport to a good college education, he walked in for a tryout with the De La Salle University Green Archers basketball team. He played for La Salle's UAAP championship team of 2001.