INQUIRER Sports

GAMES SATURDAY (Araneta Coliseum)
1 p.m.—Opening Ceremonies
2 p.m.—UST vs Adamson
4 p.m.—La Salle vs UE

MANILA, Philippines - Former Philippine Youth Team members and high school stars lead over 40 rookies set to debut in the 72nd UAAP men’s basketball tournament starting Saturday.

Preseason favorite Far Eastern U will field eight rookies headed by former national youth ace Ryan Roose Garcia and Hippolyte Noundou, a
6-foot-4 forward from Cameroon.

Just like the Tamaraws, half of the University of Santo Tomas’ 16-man roster will be composed of freshmen, including prolific scorer Jeric Teng, the son of ex-pro Alvin Teng who averaged over 30 points for Xavier.

But La Salle boasts the strongest rookie class with six new recruits led by last year’s NCAA juniors Finals MVP Arvie Bringas and four national youth team members.

The 6-foot-5 Bringas will be joined by former San Sebastian teammate Yutien Andrada and national players Joseph Tolentino, Jed Manguera, former UAAP juniors MVP Tata Marata, the nephew of ex-pro Ric-ric Marata, and Gabriel Banal, son of former Ateneo champion coach Joel Banal.

“We’re a very young team right now, it reminds me of our 2003 team,” said Archers coach Franz Pumaren.

“Some of our rookies played well in the preseason, but the UAAP is a different level, so let’s see how they’ll do in a few games,” said Tamaraws coach Glenn Capacio.

Barely tinkering with its lineup, defending champion Ateneo only has former Eaglets Juami Tiongon and Frank Golla, also a national youth team member, and Benedictine’s Christian De Chavez as the new faces.

“Four of our five starters are back,” Ateneo coach Norman Black said.

Nearly half of National University’s roster is new, including former San Beda player Ajeet Singh and Joseph Terso, another national youth ace.

“We lost the whole core; this is a brand new team,” said Bulldogs mentor Manny Dandan.

Last year’s UAAP juniors MVP Mark Juruena of Adamson and La Salle Green Hills’ Mikee Reyes head University of the Philippines’ five newcomers.

University of the East’s three rookies include Iloilo’s Jhon Rey Sumido, while Adamson recruited only the pair of Roider Ross Cabrera and Eric James Camson.