College of Saint Benilde head coach Charles Tiu isn’t worried about his position and is focused on winning the Season 100 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) crown.
Tiu said he isn’t concerned on whether or not this will be his last stint in the NCAA as a head coach as he just wants to focus on ending the Blazers’ 24-year wait for a title.
Game 1 of the best-of-three championship series between Saint Benilde and Mapua University will be on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“Who knows? I don’t know. It depends. I don’t even know how long my contract is with the school,” said Tiu, who is also an assistant coach for Converge in the Philippine Basketball Association.
“I’m not even thinking about it. We’ll see.”
Since taking over from TY Tang in 2021 as head coach, Tiu led Saint Benilde to the Final Four three times.
The Blazers also came close to ending their championship drought in 2022, only to be stopped by Letran College in Season 98.
Now with a solid crew of Allen Liwag, Justine Sanchez, Tony Ynot, Gab Cometa, and Jhomel Ancheta, Saint Benilde has a solid chance of clinching its second NCAA title.
Tiu believes the squad’s height along with its coaching staff led by assistant coach Paolo Layug and consultant Rajko Toroman, they have a good chance at winning the title this year.
“I think we have a tougher team. That’s one thing. We got guys who are a little bit more physically gifted. In this team, I also give a lot of credit to my staff,” Tiu said.
“Even the year when they were serving residency, my assistants really put in a lot of work. Coach Paolo, Coach Rajko Toroman, everyone really helped form this team and develop them. It’s a completely new team.”