Stay in your lane

Ateneo emerged to become a super team by investing on its high school stars while La Salle set its sights abroad and UST in the province.

A massive issue that has been quietly bubbling underneath finally exploded when Aldin Ayo benched Rhenz Abando during University of Santo Tomas’ (UST) previous game against University of the Philippines in Season 82 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament.

Here comes a rising star, who won the hearts of fans due to his raw athleticism and humble journey to stardom, riding the bench, looking caged and helpless in one of the most important games of this life.

At first, Ayo tried his best to brush off the issue.

But soon, nosy reporters traced that the brouhaha started when a rival school was found to be offering him an insane amount just to acquire his services.

Actually, it wasn’t the first time that such offers were made.

Those in the know revealed that the school had been wooing the wiry forward even before he could play his first official UAAP game. An assistant coach, who used to be a star in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), was serving as the broker since he also came from Abando’s province.

Speculations grew loud when UST started to have some success in the PBA D-League. Insane amount of cash, condominium unit and a car were being thrown his way to make sure that he would transfer school.

Then, during the ongoing season, Abando finally decided to run to Ayo and ask: What should I do?

Ayo responded by benching him, giving him chance to “think things over” and re-asses his loyalty to the school that took a gamble on him.

Fans may crucify the poachers in the court of public opinion, but in the ecosystem of college basketball, this incident is nothing new.

How many times have we seen a wide-eyed high school player get recruited, secure a scholarship and enroll in a specific university only to suit up for the rival school the following day? A lot.

If my memory serves me right, Arwind Santos and James Yap were supposed to suit up for De La Salle University until a last-minute change of heart brought them to Far Eastern University and University of the East, respectively. We don’t know what happened — or whom these kids talked to – between summer training and the enrollment day, but the mere fact that they decided to transfer at the last minute gives us a pretty good idea on how competitive the recruiting war in college basketball is.

Ateneo de Manila University serves as the gold standard in recruitment not just because of its sound basketball program, but also due to its quality education. No wonder, outstanding high school players are lining up at the Moro Lorenzo Gym every summer to clinch that precious slot in the men’s basketball team.

With the competition for a varsity spot very tight, young players like Thirdy Ravena, Mike and Matthew Nieto and SJ Belangel would rather join the juniors team to make sure that they would gain enough stock to make it to the seniors program, similar to the route taken by Enrico Villanueva, Paul Tanchi, Wesley Gonzales and Kiefer Ravena in the past.

The same goes for La Salle, which is heavily investing on tapping overseas talents.

Actually, this ploy is nothing new for the Green Archers.

Mike Cortez, Mac Cardona, Manny Ramos, Willy Wilson and Jason Perkins were playground heroes in the United States before finding their way to La Salle. Now, the Green Archers have Filipino-Americans Keys Meeker, James Laput and Jamie Malonzo to bank on.

With very limited resources, the Growling Tigers are luring outstanding players from the province by allowing their glorious 400-year history, very good educational system and Catholic influence to make the pitch.

Like Abando, Cyrus Baguio also flew under the radar as La Salle rejected him before finding his way to the comforting arms of legendary coach Aric del Rosario.

Baguio went on to become the 14th overall pick in the PBA Draft with a career that spans from 2003 up to the present.

Like Baguio, other gems in the rough that UST discovered were Jervy Cruz, jojo Duncil, Estong Ballesteros and Dennis Espino, who went on top have a glorious PBA career.

True enough, schools can build a solid basketball program even without raiding the roster of rival teams. They can do it slowly and tactically depending on what they can offer. The possibilities are endless for as long as they are staying in their lanes.

Ateneo emerged to become a super team by investing on its high school stars while La Salle set its sights abroad and UST in the province.

I know other teams are also doing the same, but at the end of the day, it’s all about having good scouting and solid program to assemble a very fluid team.

Of course, more importantly, the school should also develop a good education system to lure outstanding athletes to enroll and believe that there is still life outside the playing court.