JOSH Reyes has stepped down from his position as Gilas Pilipinas Youth head coach, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas announced on Friday.
The SBP said a restructuring of the youth program will be underway - the first step of which will be a change in the head coaching position.
Reyes will still stay with the Gilas Pilipinas program, however, as assistant coach to Tim Cone for the men's team.
“We thank coach Josh for his service to the SBP and to the country in leading the Gilas Youth program for the past six years,” said SBP president Al Panlilio.
Gilas Youth's new coach named sooner than later
The SBP said it will name a new head coach "in the coming weeks."
"We are already having discussions within the SBP," said SBP executive director Erika Dy. "We thank coach Josh for helping us streamline our processes, as this will be valuable to the program moving forward."
"The focus remains to be continuity and synergy with Gilas Men and a stronger connection with our current Grassroots Program under coach Norman Black," Dy added.
Reyes' accomplishments with Gilas Youth
After being an assistant of the youth squad starting 2017, Reyes took the head coaching job in the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship for the team led by Kai Sotto and AJ Edu that finished fourth and qualified to the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup.
Reyes also helped Gilas Youth qualify to the 2024 FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup by reaching the semifinals of the 2023 FIBA Under-16 Asian Championship.
The nationals, however, failed to win a game in the world meet that saw their top gun in Kieffer Alas suffering a knee injury days before the tournament.
In what turned out to be his final tour of duty as Gilas Youth coach, Reyes won a game in the 2024 FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship, but missed the quarterfinals after another injury before the tournament claimed his brightest star in Andy Gemao.
"The last Under-18 team gave me the ending I didn’t know I needed,” Reyes said in a statement.
“I thank them for giving me their very best because as a coach, that’s all you can ask for. It’s my worst finish, but it’s a group that gave me a meaningful experience. It’s not entirely about the wins and losses, but about the journey and how you grow together,” said Reyes.
“I’m also thankful to our coaching staff and the support staff. We went through many ups and downs. but they always showed belief through the challenges.”
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