HE MAY BE ONE OF THE PEOPLE closest to Tamaraw Mac Baracael but FEU men?s basketball coach Glenn Capacio swears he is just as lost and in the dark as the next guy is as to the motive behind the shooting of the cager.

?Gulat na gulat nga kaming lahat, we could not imagine who or why anyone would want to harm Mac,? said Glenn on the phone, sounding both confused and disturbed. If I were an investigator, I certainly would get no lead from Glenn.

People in basketball circles, however, are quick to offer their own theory or theories behind the attempted murder.

One commercial league official, for example, was certain game-fixing had something to do with the incident.

Apart from game-fixing being so rampant in the collegiate level these days, the official said Baracael had reported to school authorities last season that he and two other teammates had been offered by the syndicate to throw a game. This move could have created complications and Baracael could have incurred the ire of certain quarters, he said.

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The game-fixing syndicate, a jealous male partner of a girl the cager is involved with and a spurned gay suitor are high on the list of suspects based on a secret investigation I conducted since the crime was perpetrated.

The member of the third sex, who had put forward the last suspect in the list, warned me not to laugh.

Only very recently, he said, the car of a collegiate cager was vandalized by who he called ?a gay sponsor? when, after investing heavily on the cager, he was turned down.

The cager woke up one day to find his car covered in gallons and gallons of house paint.

?You see, one of the investments made by the gay sponsor is a repainting job for his car. For all we know, he may have even donated the vehicle,? my friend revealed. ?What he giveth, he taketh away.?

The story has a happy ending though. The culprit was caught and the car was restored. I?m not sure though if the couple lived merrily ever after.

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On the Sam Ekwe case, the $64 question is: ?Who stole his new uniform??

Called for questioning in the recent NCAA ManCom meeting, the San Beda cager related that he had personally washed his uniform the day before the SBC-College of St. Benilde game. (While other items are sent to the laundry, an insider said uniforms are usually washed by the owner to ensure that it is ready for wearing in the next game.)

The last he saw it, Ekwe said the set of uniform was hanging to dry on the clothesline of the SBC dorm where he was staying.

The following day when he went to check if his uniform was dry, he was shocked to find it had disappeared.

After exhausting every means to find it to no avail, Ekwe did the next best thing and stuffed an old uniform inside his bag.

Who took the uniform? According to preliminary investigation, most likely it was an inside job. Sabotage by an outsider was ruled out since only selected people are allowed inside the dorm.

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The day my last column came out, I received a call from Joey Romasanta of the Philippine Olympic Committee. He said the item on the young cager who had sued the team?s coaching staff reminded him of his elementary and high school days in San Beda.

?In my case though, I trained hard and relentlessly with the varsity basketball team for four long years without giving up. Finally the coach told me that I might have better luck with the track and field team.?

Joey followed the basketball coach?s advise and shifted to track and field. He could have had a brilliant future in athletics, he said, but if he did, he never found out. By the time he embarked on a new discipline, it was too late. He was already graduating.

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SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan, the Alpha Sigma Fraternity and UP alumni Doy Vea, Smart Communications Chief Wireless Advisor; and Johnny Hernandez, Victory Liner CEO; have pooled their resources to donate an air-conditioned Hyundai tourist bus that seats 45 people to UP for the use of the Maroons.

The turnover ceremonies will be held Sunday at 5 p.m. at the UP gym in Diliman.

?It will be called the UP Centennial Smart bus,? said Smart Sports? Patrick Gregorio, who facilitated the donation.