AS the sea of red and white rocked the jampacked Smart Araneta Colisuem in San Beda’s celebration for winning their second NCAA men’s basketball title in three years, league panelist Anton Roxas asked head coach Yuri Escueta about which title is sweeter.
“Yung pangatlo at yung pang apat,” Escueta responded as the thousands of San Beda faithful roared in unison, obviously getting the humor that their head coach had, but ultimately viewing it as a vow, a show of confidence in giving the promise of more titles to come.
READ: Undeniable San Beda sweeps Letran to win NCAA title number 24
That confidence doesn’t come in arrogance, it’s not even in the high of winning a championship against your biggest rival can give you, Escueta’s always had it – he’s always had it since he took on the job back in NCAA Season 98.
The Red Cub-turned-Blue Eagle came into the program amid shifting times for the Red Lions, just when the league just started to disallow foreign student athletes from playing.
And while the Red Lions have proven capable of winning without an FSA in the past, they’ve always had dominant FSA’s anchoring the squad to play along their five-star local recruits.
Foreign players like Sam Ekwe, the late Sudan Daniel, Ola Adeogon and Donald Tankoua have won multiple crowns for Mendiola as they ruled over the league for the Red Lions who were also boasting of some top-notch local talent like Rome dela Rosa, Garvo Lanete, Tony Semerad, Baser Amer, Robert Bolick, and Calvin Oftana among the many top recruits that have played for them through the years.
Stepping up to the plate
Escueta, doesn’t have that luxury anymore, as the once-upon-a-time top of the line destination for college recruits – from both their homegrown high school talents and outside of it – have fallen from the pecking order in terms of collegiate programs, as they’ve even fallen victims to losing key players.
But he gamely took on the challenge. Nevermind the fact that it’s his first experience at coaching in college. Nevermind the fact that the guy that he just replaced in Boyet Fernandez won four titles with the Red Lions.
Nevermind the fact that he’s taking over a school with 22 NCAA titles, and its biggest rival in Letran in the middle of winning its three-peat and closing in on the count.
For Escueta, the confidence needed not to be complicated, and he repeated that just when he won his school its 24th title.
“Lagi ko sinasabi sa mga players ko, basketball lang ‘to e. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose but basketball is a sport we’ve been playing all throughout our lives. Just enjoy the game. If you win, you win, if you lose then try again next year, so the pressure is just in the mind, mindset lang yan eh,” he said.
“Of course, the pressure of winning is there but if you work hard, you do the right things, you have good players with good attitude, result lang yung championship na yun sa culture na sinusubukan namin i-build dito sa players.”
Rolling with the punches
Departures certainly shaped Escueta’s run with the Red Lions. While he didn’t play for Escueta directly, Evan Nelle would’ve still been eligible to play for Escueta’s rookie year had he not departed to La Salle.
But that’s not even the biggest blow for his San Beda team.
One of the bigger blows came a year after his rookie year and leading the young Red Lions side to the semifinals after losing to the Benilde Blazers.
Not only did the Blazers boot them out of contention, they also took their young core of Justine Sanchez, Tony Ynot and Gab Cometa – three top recruits from the Red Cubs side – with them.
So how did Escueta respond? Well, he gave the keys to a young cub named Jacob Cortez, turned James Payosing into swiss-army knife type of player, had Yukien Andrada breakout and maximized his vets in the likes of Damie Cuntapay and Peter Alfaro enroute to winning his first title as a head coach.
But the exodus wouldn’t end there. Cortez, fresh off a breakout season, transferred to La Salle just months after winning the championship – before Payosing, the finals MVP of Season 99, would follow suit by leaving for UP after Season 100.
Still, Escueta was undeterred. And as he just won his second NCAA title right after losing two of his best players two years ago he can certainly say it with his chest out.
“This isn’t new to us. Sabi ko nga sa inyo, whoever wears this jersey is playing the San Beda Red Lions way ng basketball,” he said.
“Kung ayaw nila suotin ang jersey namin, hahanap kami ng ibang gusto mag-suot at sure kaming lalaban para sa amin.”
A promise fulfilled
And that’s why Escueta will always have that bond with Andrada – the guy who stayed amid surely tempting offers from other schools. The guy who opted to play out his final year despite being a certified first rounder in the PBA.
Yuki’s seen his fellow Red Cubs grow and blaze a new trail, he’s seen his champion teammates move over to greener, or maroon-ish in the case of Payosing, pastures but he’s stayed with Escueta amid all of it.
And now he can call himself a two-time NCAA champion with his coach, and for that Escueta will always be grateful.
“In this landscape ng college basketball ngayon, it’s very hard to find players that are grateful and that are loyal to the school that gives them an opportunity to study,” Escueta said.
“Yuki stayed to win this championship. Sabi ko nga kay Yuki, iniwan na kami ng lahat. Kami nalang dalawa naiwan at least nakadalawa na kami.”
And that’s why it didn’t take long for Escueta to respond on what makes this season so special – it’s winning it with Andrada and fulfilling the promise that he made to his graduating forward when they shared the heartbreak of defeat in the semifinals against the same guys who left them in Ynot, Sanchez, Cometa and the Blazers.
“Naalala ko yung conversation namin after we lost last season sa CSB. Hindi siya nagdalawang isip bumalik. I made a promise to him that I will do my best and I will win a championship for him,” he said.
“Up to today, yung lahat ng hard work and inspiration ko is the promise that I made to him when we lost to CSB.”
And him having that confidence to make a vow that Andrada will leave a champion is pretty much the same in him promising the community of more titles to come, be it in jest or or as a declaratory statement.
He believes in the team. He believes in the coaches around him and the system that makes this the most dominant men’s basketball team in the NCAA.
But most importantly, he believes in himself. He believes that whoever comes and goes, he’s capable enough to make the most out of what’s in front of him.
“Of course nanghihinayang minsan but boss [San Beda team manager] Jude [Roque] always finds a way to be able to replace yung mga umaalis. At the same time, we know, and I know, that I can develop new guys to step-up,” he told Spin.ph right when he was about to leave the press room.
“Kung gusto nila ng magaling na player sa mga ibang school, mali ang ginagawa nila. Yung coaching staff ko ang key sa player development namin.”
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