COACH Nash Racela was saddened to learn that two of his old wards in Far Eastern University found themselves in hot water for their involvement in the controversial Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup game between ARQ-Lapu-Lapu City Heroes and the Siquijor Mystics.
"I'm surprised that they got dragged into this mess," said the Blackwater coach as former Tamaraws Monbert Arong and Rendell Senining were among those meted with fines and suspensions from the Lapu-Lapu City team for their roles in the said fiasco.
Senining got the brunt of the penalties for the Heroes as he was fined P15,000 and was slapped with a tournament-long suspension, while Arong was also handed a P15,000 penalty and will serve a ban for the rest of the first round.
Racela noted that these players were "men of integrity" as he got to know them in their time in Morayta.
"I can't really speak about their lives after FEU, pero from the limited time na nakasama ko sila, I've known them to be men of integrity who played hard to win day-in and day-out," said the mentor, who led FEU to its last UAAP title back in 2016.

Arong is a 6-foot guard who transferred from Southwestern University and spent three years with the Tamaraws, graduating in 2017.
He was part of the champion team and even drained a game-winner to lift FEU to a 57-56 win over National University in UAAP Season 79.
"Monbert, as witnessed by most, had a 'patay kung patay' attitude during his time in the UAAP," Racela described Arong.
On the other hand, the 5-foot-10 Senining spent only two years in FEU but failed to crack Team A. Before that, he spent three years in the Team B of NU.
Racela continued, "Rendell would always be considered to be part of the lineup every year not because of his skillset, but more because of his attitude and commitment."
Tough as the times may be for Arong and Senining, Racela still offered a timely advice the two can latch on as they look to redeem themselves after this incident.
"My advice is that they think before they act. Even for a very short time, separate their emotions so they could think objectively," he said.
Racela furthered that he has no question the two will be able to hurdle these challenges and continue playing the game they love.
"I'm confident they'll get over this stage of their lives and will come out as better people," he ended.
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