FEU Tamaraws head coach Nash Racela. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Far Eastern U coach Nash Racela feels no pressure with the entry of new and big name coaches in the UAAP and said that the recent moves is a result of schools going all-in on their quest of finally winning the championship.
Fresh from a championship in the NCAA for Letran, Aldin Ayo was nabbed by La Salle to succeed Juno Sauler. Franz Pumaren was named as the new head coach of Adamson shortly after while Tab Baldwin was been selected to succeed Bo Perasol in Ateneo.
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“I look at them as a normal coaches, not their names,” he said.
Speaking to select reporters on Thursday at Ally’s All-Day Breakfast Place in Commonwealth, Racela acknowledged the appointments as the schools’ commitment to improve their respective basketball programs.
“This is a result of wanting to win at all costs. At least for them, they try to get the best players in high school, and now they’re getting the good coaches,” he said.
READ: Franz Pumaren: ‘We’re here to give Adamson a championship’
It was a busy off-season for the teams even if the UAAP just ended two weeks ago, and Racela likened the coaching hires to the player recruitment.
“That’s their choice,” Racela said. “You can’t stop them from doing that. The same way to us, we have our own recruitment when it comes to the players. We have different ways.”
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He also sees those as a heightened sense of urgency for the Ateneo and La Salle teams, which have missed the titular series for two seasons in a row.
“I think they’re pressured to win now because for the last two years, they’ve missed the Finals,” he said. “That’s something we brought up in 2013, that since 1993, there is an Ateneo or La Salle, or both, in the Finals. Then all of a sudden, they’re not there. They’re pressured to perform and to win, that’s why they’re making those changes.”