LEO Austria, Jericho Cruz, Don Trollano, and Rodney Brondial are seeking to do what they failed to do in college, win a championship together.
Cruz, Trollano, and Brondial were together with Adamson in the UAAP Season 75 and 76, with Austria as their head coach.
Things didn't go exactly well for the Falcons as they missed out on the semifinals in both seasons, finishing with a 3-11 record in Season 75, and a 4-10 record in Season 76.
Years later, they are now eyeing their first title together with San Miguel and they couldn't be any more grateful to get a chance at winning the big one more than a decade later.
“Masaya. Hindi ko ma-imagine,” said the 34-year-old Cruz.
“Kami sa Adamson, magkakasama kaming tatlo. Tapos dito naman sa big stage, magkakasama pa din kami especially ang coach namin si coach Leo. Nakakasaya talaga," he continued.
“Iba ‘yung pakiramdam na halos kalahati ng buhay ko, kasama ko si Don at si Rodney Hopefully, mag-champion kami."
READ: Coaching break gave Austria a needed reset ahead of finals return
Of the four of them, Trollano is the last person who came aboard for San Miguel after being acquired in a three-team trade with NLEX and NorthPort in 2023.
In the 2022 Philippine Cup, San Miguel won the crown over TNT with Austria as the head coach, and Cruz and Brondial capturing their first crown as a member of the Beermen.
Trollano did win his first PBA crown as a Beerman in the 2023-24 Commissioner’s Cup but Jorge Gallent was the head coach, and Austria as consultant during that title run.
The 33-year-old Trollano will now try to win his first PBA title with his college coach as the mentor together with his former Falcons teammates.
“Sobrang happy namin kasi back nung college days namin, ako, hindi ako naka-Final Four,” said Trollano, who lost in his first crack at the PBA title with SMB in the 2024 Philippine Cup when Chris Newsome shot over him in his title-winning basket for Meralco.
“Hindi kami nakapag-playoffs (nung college). Fast forward dito sa professional, biggest league sa Pilipinas, we are competing for a championship. It’s a great honor. I’m really, really happy na si coach Leo pa ang coach.”
Destiny seemed to have reunited the four of them at San Miguel, according to Austria.
“Hindi ko pinangarap na maging player ko sila kasi wala kaming plano eh. I think it’s a destiny. It happened na there’s an opportunity to join us. Before joining our team, they kept asking na kunin mo na kami. It’s not really that easy to get a player from the other team. The opportunity arose, nakuha namin," he said.
The three former Adamson players have been vital in Beermen’s campaign this conference, which will make this championship a lot sweeter if they went on to win it.
Before the finals, Trollano is enjoying one of his best conferences as a Beermen, being the third leading scorer of the team behind June Mar Fajardo and Cjay Perez with an average of 13.4 points.
Cruz brought his usual hard-nosed defense for SMB and is also averaging 9.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in games before the finals.
The 34-year-old Brondial is the second leading rebounder of the Beermen behind Fajardo, norming 8.4 rebounds per outing in matches before the championship round.
Austria said familiarity is one of the reasons why San Miguel has returned to the finals.
“It’s nice because we know each other. That’s what the coaches want to develop, a good relationship,” said Austria.
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