SIX SCHOOLS, including fierce rivals Ateneo and La Salle, will parade new coaches when the Filoil Flying V Premier Cup tips off April 30 at Filoil Flying V Center.
Gilas Pilipinas coach Tab Baldwin gets his first taste of collegiate action as he handles the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the pre-season tournament.
Aldin Ayo, who boosted his stock by steering Letran to the NCAA title in only his first season, will call the shots for the La Salle Green Archers.
Returning to coach their respective alma maters are Egay Macaraya, who will be at the helm for San Sebastian, and Bo Perasol, who will serve as top tactician at University of the Philippines just a season after leaving Ateneo.
Perasol, who posted a 27-18 record in three seasons coaching Ateneo, played for the Fighting Maroons from 1990 to 1994.
Macaraya was part of the San Sebastian teams in the late 1980s that also included ex-pros Paul Alvarez and Eugene Quilban. He is coming off a stint with Centro Escolar University, which he led to three consecutive NAASCU titles.
Former La Salle mentor Franz Pumaren returns to collegiate basketball with Adamson, while Jeff Napa, the former National U gunner-turned-juniors coach, will have his baptism of fire in senior basketball handling reigning NCAA champion Letran Knights.
“It would be interesting to see the impact of these coaches in their new setting,” said Filoil Flying V Premier Cup commissioner Renato “Ato” Badolato. “They will certainly improve the level of the games.” Cedelf P. Tupas