Chasing legacy

ALDIN Ayo chases a spot in the circle of elite coaches.

Collegiate basketball is overflowing with great coaches who led their teams to greater heights.

Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan has a legendary status when he coached University of the East during its glory years in the 1960s while Franz Pumaren dominated the 2000s when he led De La Salle University to countless championships using his trademark press defense.

Of course, his greatest rival was Norman Black, the American mentor who steered Ateneo de Manila University to a lot of championship runs.

Later, another American in Tab Baldwin came over and gave the Blue Eagles two more titles.

But there is a young mentor who is often mentioned on the footnote of coaching greats. He is so underrated that his amazing achievements often go unnoticed, often regarded as a natural occurrence instead of being a product of hard work, dedication and a lot of sacrifices.

And now that he’s back in the finals of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament, maybe it’s time for him to carve his niche in the echelon of coaching greats.

Maybe it’s time for him to capture the legacy that he has been chasing.

Nobody would think that Aldin Ayo is a head coach.

Off the court, he carries himself more like a varsity player than a seasoned head coach and often joins University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers when they are horsing around.

He barks orders with authority and instructs his players to do the dirty works, or those little things that would make them click like boxing out or coming up with strong, solid picks to free up their shooters.

In short, he is a blue-collar coach — the one who loves to grit and grind rather than bank on individual talent and athleticism.

“It’s good that players and the coaching staff are showing their passion for the game,” said Ayo, shortly after sending the Tigers to the finals of the UAAP.

“But for me, it’s not enough. That’s why I always tell them to put on a lot of hard work in everything they do so that whatever happens, they won’t have regrets. They know that they did their best and put in a lot of effort.”

This would be Ayo’s fourth title battle in five years.

He first burst into the biggest stage of collegiate basketball as the young, biceps-flexing mentor of Letran College in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

He made a miracle when he led the Knights all the way to the crown, prompting La Salle to tap him as its head coach.

At La Salle, he inherited a team overflowing with stars like Ben Mbala, Jeron Teng, Ricci Rivero and Jason Perkins to win another crown.

The Green Archers bombed out the following year, signaling Ayo to pack his bags for UST, which finished sixth in his first tour of duty.

And now that the Tigers are in the finals, Ayo is obviously not just shooting for a crown. He wants to create his own legacy and put him on the same conversation with other coaching greats.

He was a mere role player in a star-studded Letran squad that had Kerby Raymundo, Jason Misolas and Chris Calaguio. Their coach was Louie Alas, a well-respected mentor for preaching the value of hard work and good defense.

His brightest moment came when he hit the go-ahead layup in Game 1 of the NCAA finals that gave the Knights the 1999 title past Jose Rizal University. Other than that, he was just an average player, who later on tried to find an identity in the coaching circle that was greatly dominated by seasoned professional coaches.

That’s why it didn’t come as a surprise that UST absorbed his identity.

Rhenz Abando blossomed from an underdog into college basketball’s most reliable swingman while Soulemane Chabi Yo emerged from an African journeyman into a Most Valuable Player — all through sheer hard work and hustle.

“This team is very young and it needs a great driver who will help them make the best out of those talents,” Ayo said after knocking out the favored University of the Philippines in the stepladder phase.

“But we shouldn’t be contented with this. This is not what we worked hard for. When we started the season, our eyes are fixed on one goal and that is to win the title.”

Sure, he may not be as decorated as coaching greats like Black, Dalupan or Pumaren, but every time the Tigers hit the court, he’s proving that he belongs and deserves such recognition.

All he needs is a little time and a stroke of luck to carve his legacy.

After all, legends aren’t created overnight.