Last Season: 9-0 (1st, Champion)
Head Coach: Bonnie Tan (3rd season)
Who's Gone? Rhenz Abando, Jeo Ambohot, Allen Mina
Who's Still Here? Fran Yu, Brent Paraiso, Louie Sangalang
OH, how fast the night changes.
After capping off its perfect season with back-to-back NCAA crowns, Letran was favored to make it a three-peat with Rhenz Abando still holding the fort.
See Letran scratched from opening-day schedule due to health protocols
Fast forward to now and it's just a distant memory with Abando moving to Korea and leaving the Knights with a big hole to fill.
That puts more pressure on veterans Fran Yu and Brent Paraiso to display their leadership skills as they will be counted on to stabilize the fort in Muralla.
Coach Bonnie Tan will also have to demand more from the likes of Louie Sangalang and Paolo Javillonar as Letran looks to maintain the inside presence which has made it the unbeatable unit it was last season.
Bonnie Tan and the Knights eye their third straight title.
King Caralipio, who has shown flashes in the offseason, must also find a way to be a reliable contributor as he tries to fill the gaps left by Allen Mina.
Tan would be the first to acknowledge that it will be a totally different Knights crew come NCAA Season 98 all the more with the team dealing with injuries in their preseason preparations.
What he's counting on, though, will be the pride of these players as they aim to once again defend Letran's throne.
"Mahalaga para sa amin yung tapang ng mga players, yung pride na kami pa rin yung defending champions at hindi kami dapat basta-bastang magpapatalo," he said.
This title retention bid surely won't be easy, but there's really nothing more sweeter if the Knights indeed complete the three-peat.
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