(FROM L-R) UP coach Bo Perasol, FEU coach Nash Racela, Adamson coach Franz Pumaren, UST coach Boy Sablan, La Salle coach Aldin Ayo and Ateneo coach Sandy Arespacochaga. Not in the photo are UE coach Dindo Pumaren and NU coach Eric Altamirano. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Last season, Far Eastern University head coach Nash Racela was on point in singling out University of Santo Tomas as the dark horse, a bold prediction that the rest of the UAAP failed to notice.
This year, Racela, who steered the Tamaraws to their first UAAP crown in a decade after outlasting the Growling Tigers in three games, could be on to something again.
“I’m looking at Adamson because, of course, number one their coach, number two is their recruits,” Racela told reporters during the UAAP Season 79 presser Tuesday at Novotel Araneta Center in Cubao.
Adamson had a busy offseason which started with the appointment of Franz Pumaren, one of the most respected coaches in the collegiate ranks, as its new head coach.
Pumaren won multiple UAAP titles with De La Salle and his hiring also paved the way for highly-touted recruits led by lanky swingman Jerick Ahanmisi to join the Falcons.
Racela could end up right again, only this time, he wasn’t the only one who sees Adamson as a potential gatecrasher in the Final Four.
“Dark horse based on improvement maybe Adamson and University of the East, but I don’t think any of the teams will be considered cellar-dweller,” said Ateneo head coach Sandy Arespacochaga.
The Red Warriors, led by mainstay Bon Batiller and their scrappy brand of basketball, also got considerations and so did the Blue Eagles, whose biggest offseason addition won’t be logging a single second but will be mapping out plays and calling out instructions from the sidelines with the hiring of national team head coach Tab Baldwin as consultant.
“It’s gonna be Ateneo. I’ve been hearing that they’re not going to be the same Ateneo team of the past,” said Pumaren.
“It could be UE because they bring the effort every single day and they have this attitude of a fighter,” said La Salle head coach Aldin Ayo.
While the coaches were split on which team is primed to make an unexpected run, they were unanimous on La Salle as this season’s favorite.
“They have a super import and they have players who are really experience and are playing their last year in the UAAP,” Racela said of the Green Archers, who will bank on Jeron Teng and Cameroonian big man Ben Mbala.