JRU head coach Vergel Meneses. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Jose Rizal University coach Vergel Meneses may have just found his heir apparent once he decides to step down as the Heavy Bombers head coach.
And Meneses didn’t have to look elsewhere to find the successor to his throne.
The PBA legend said his graduating guard Gio Lasquety will act as playing assistant coach for JRU in the coming NCAA season.
“Gio is always steady. This NCAA season, he will be a playing assistant coach and we’re grooming him to be a future head coach of JRU,” Meneses said on Sunday.
Meneses said he has seen Lasquety’s coaching otential ever since and he wants to guide the senior if he chooses to go that path.
“I saw it in his mindset and he really knows what’s happening inside the court,” he said.
Lasquety couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with significant role Meneses entrusted in him.
“He has already told me months before, but I was still surprised because as a player, it’s a big responsibility for me,” Lasquety said in Filipino. “I’m a player, and at the same time, I also need to help to the coaches because I’m also part of the staff.”
“Instead of feeling shocked, I’m learning how to be a coach and how to see the game in a coach’s perspective so that every time they ask me, I can contribute something to them,” he said.
Lasquety shared the coaching job is also something that throws a wrench in his future plans that includes fulfilling his PBA dreams.
“That’s my problem now. But it all depends on what will happen to me,” he said. “I’m still thankful that even though I wasn’t able to make it to the PBA, there’s this and I have a chance to try coaching and I’ll be under coach Vergel.”
But Lasquety would rather not think about the future first with him focused on the helping the Heavy Bombers return to the Final Four this NCAA Season 93.
“For me, I’m just comforting my teammates whenever they do something wrong. I just tell them that coach wouldn’t shout on them if they followed the gameplan right. I tell them to play their game and teach them the right things as an older brother,” he said.