Ateneo de Manila University is walking an unfamiliar path in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 88 basketball tournament.
Gone are the days when the Blue Eagles enter the season as one of the favorites, if not the top title contender.
This time, Ateneo will try to climb from the bottom following a forgettable last place finish the previous year, its worst in over a decade.
Head coach Tab Baldwin has high hopes about the Blue Eagles’ redemption campaign starting on Saturday against Far Eastern University at the University of Santo Tomas Quadricentennial Pavilion Arena.
What happened last year — a disappointing 4-10 win-loss record and missing the Final Four for the first time in 11 years — will be Ateneo’s rallying point.
Everyone’s on board to make Ateneo great again.
“We don’t care about last year. That’s water under the bridge,” a defiant Baldwin said.
“This team will build their own identity and they’ll make their own mark and we’ll have nothing to do with last year,” added the mentor who steered Ateneo to four championships.
The Blue Eagles saw the departure of Sean Quitevis, Chris Koon and Kristian Porter after Season 87.
Holdovers led by Jared Bahay, Josh Lazaro, Ian Espinosa, Shawn Tuano and Andrew Bongo are all determined to regain Ateneo’s lost pride.
“You know, I think if you understand youth, you understand the persistence of optimism. I think all young players believe in themselves and are optimistic about their chances to succeed,” the 67-year-old Baldwin said.
“And when you put them all together and you get some collective performance, then everybody feels that way. There’s a lot of optimism in our camp. There’s also a lot of determination.”
Baldwin sees new team captain Bahay playing a bigger role in his second year.
“Well, he had a pretty big role last year as a freshman and so you know. I just think his impact needs to be better this year and impact more in the way of a guy that leads the team and gets the most out of his teammates from the point guard position,” he said.
“And I think he’s closer to doing that than he was last year.”
He will be leading a crew that has gone taller with the addition of 6-foot-10 Nigerian Divine Adili and one-and-done player 6-foot-8 Kymani Ladi.