Ateneo de Manila University penned the obituary of its vaunted basketball program the moment the lifeless bodies of Rene Clert Baterbonia and Divine Adili were pulled out of the brutal waters of Aurora.
Remember Len Bias? When he died of a cocaine overdose shortly after being taken as the second overall pick in the 1986 NBA Draft, the Boston Celtics were never the same again.
Bias was supposed to inherit the great Celtics dynasty with Kevin McHale and Larry Bird about to hang their jerseys. But in a flash, the future of the Celtics crumbled, sending the franchise into a dark era that only ended when the Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen won the crown in 2008.
The same fate could await these Blue Eagles.
With Baterbonia and Adili gone, the heavily-funded Ateneo basketball program could be reduced to a lightweight that will take years — or even a decade — to regain its powerhouse status.
Signs of collapse are already showing. Last Sunday, for instance, it was announced that the Blue Eagles will no longer continue their campaign in the 19th Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup, a crucial tournament that collegiate teams use to fine-tune their game plans and determine their final rosters. Without seeing action in a major preseason event, Ateneo faces an uphill battle to solidify its preparation, especially with Season 89 of the UAAP just a few months away.
Then there’s the UAAP itself. What are the odds that the Blue Eagles can escape the league’s sanction when they have two funerals to explain? Zero to none.
Two decades ago, De La Salle University committed what it claimed as a “minor infraction” of submitting spurious documents of members of its men’s basketball team. The Green Archers came out clean by returning the title they won in 2004 and declaring that they will overhaul their varsity program.
But the UAAP board didn’t buy that. Instead, it cracked the whip and suspended the Archers from competing not just in men’s basketball but in all sports in Season 69. Fortunately for them, the Green Archers were able to recover, storming back to win the Season 70 title in dominant fashion.
But the biggest problem for Ateneo is inside its own locker room. On Monday, Ateneo accepted the resignations of head coach Tab Baldwin and Epok Quimpo. In short, the Baldwin era at Ateneo is over. A new tactician will soon be calling the shots — assuming that the school is lucky enough to escape the looming UAAP suspension.
And with Baldwin packing his bags, the players are expected to follow. I heard UAAP and National Collegiate Athletic Association coaches are now burning the phone lines just to recruit the grieving Eagles in anticipation of the school’s lengthy UAAP ban.
With some of them not yet enrolled this coming semester, it’s going to be very easy for these players to jump ship and move on from the tragedy. After all, most of them committed to Ateneo to master the system of an elite coach like Baldwin, viewing it as a golden ticket to land an overseas career.
We have seen this script before. During the pandemic in 2020, University of Santo Tomas coach Aldin Ayo committed a severe quarantine violation when he put up a training camp in his hometown in Sorsogon.
When the controversial “Sorsogon bubble” burst, key players jumped ship, with team captain CJ Cansino joining University of the Philippines, Rhenz Abando and Brent Paraiso bolting out for Letran College, and Mark Nonoy joining De La Salle University.
How about Ayo? Well, he was slapped with an indefinite ban from coaching in the UAAP for endangering the health and well-being of his student-athletes for running an unsanctioned camp during a public health emergency.
Now, Ateneo stares down the same barrel.
With Baldwin no longer around, players will surely sprint for the exit to salvage their very limited collegiate playing years. They would rather start fresh with a new team than stay in a program that is in limbo as it tries to recover from one of the darkest moments in Philippine sports.
You see, the deaths of Baterbonia and Adili have really doomed the once-mighty Ateneo basketball program. I hope they tap a coach who will help their recovery both on and off the court.
