Arao played high school basketball in
San Beda College High School. The San Beda Red Cubs won the
2002 NCAA juniors' basketball title with Arao as their starting center. Arao then played collegiate basketball in
Ateneo de Manila University from 2003 to 2007. The
Ateneo Blue Eagles reached the UAAP finals in
2003 and
2006, and fell short each time. Arao was drafted by the
Meralco Bolts in the
2010 PBA Draft. Arao played only one game in the Philippine Basketball Association. He played for three minutes, without registering anything from that lone game. In 2016, Arao returned to playing competitive basketball as he signed with Byaheng SCTEX of the
Pilipinas Commercial Basketball League. == Coaching career ==