Ateneo welcomes new coach Tab Baldwin

Tab Baldwin. Photo from Fiba.com

Ateneo formally announced the appointment of Gilas Pilipinas coach Tab Baldwin as the new mentor of the Blue Eagles Monday—UAAP basketball’s most celebrated hiring after the league ended the season last week.

The school’s website posted the announcement and confirmed the story the Inquirer broke exclusively on Saturday night.

Baldwin takes over from the resigned Bo Perasol and assumes one of the most organized basketball programs in the league.

“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Thomas Anthony “Tab” Baldwin as head coach of our men’s basketball team,” said the statement of Ateneo’s Office of the President.

“Many of you know coach Tab because of his great success with the Gilas team.”

Ateneo ruled the UAAP with remarkable aplomb for five years from 2008 under Norman Black before he returned to the PBA to coach Talk ‘N Text, one of the three teams in the PBA of the Eagles’ benefactor, tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan.

The Eagles’ best finish under Perasol was third place this season after losing to eventual champion Far Eastern University. In Perasol’s first year, Ateneo failed to make the Final Four and was fourth in 2014.

La Salle and Adamson also changed coaches in the postseason.

The Green Archers plucked Aldin Ayo out of Letran just weeks after the Knights won the NCAA championship over bitter rival San Beda in an enthralling finale.

Franz Pumaren, a former Archer and PBA coach with Air21, took over the Falcons’ program that has had no progress for several years.

Baldwin, who is also under a long-term contract to handle the Gilas Pilipinas program, has been promised all the resources he needs to perform his dual tasks, including the hiring of additional personnel.