BY Andrei Barrantes
COACHES who have won in both NCAA and UAAP basketball in the modern era can be counted with just one hand.
Turo Valenzona. Joel Banal. Koy Banal. Aldin Ayo.
Now, however, there's a new name that may be added to the list, as Manu Iñigo leads University of Santo Tomas to finals battle against dynastic NU-Nazareth School.
Iñigo was already a champion coach prior to his arrival to the Tiger Cubs' den, as he guided, interestingly, the San Beda Red Cubs to the NCAA title back in Season 95.
With a chance at crowns in both leagues, the youthful shot-caller insisted his motivation lies with his squad and the España community, not his personal record.
“Siyempre, kung mangyari, thankful ako kasi binigyan ako ng blessing ni God na mangyari yan. Pero sabi ko nga, lahat naman ng ito, ginagawa ko for the boys and for UST. So yung individual na ginagawa ko doesn't really matter; basta ang importante sa akin, mag-champion sila,” Inigo said.
As far as championship droughts go, very few have it worse than the black-and-gold.
Not only was their last finals appearance in 2010, their last championship was all the way back in 2002.
This is exactly why Iñigo is even prouder that his Tiger Cubs got to end the finals absence that spanned a decade and a half.
“Well, credit siyempre sa mga boys nitong grupo na ito na mas ginusto nila at mas gutom talaga sila na makapasok sa finals,” he said.
“We’re just really blessed na magkakaroon kami ng opportunity na makapag-champion ulit yung UST after a long time.”
Prepping for the dogfight
Though UST’s route to the finals had its fair share of trials, their chances at hoisting the trophy are far from slim.
After all, they are the only team to have defeated finals foe NUNS, as their win in the last game of eliminations blocked the Bullpups' automatic advance to the championship round.
Then in the traditional Final Four, they disposed of Mythical Five member Cabs Cabonilas and Far Eastern University-Diliman.
For Iñigo, repeating their coverage of Best Foreign Student-Athlete (FSA) Collins Akowe is key to yet again toppling NUNS.
READ: The real MVP? Akowe welcomes first-ever Best FSA award with open arms
As he explained, “Siyempre si Collins pa rin, talagang magfo-focus pa rin kami kung pa'no namin siya mata-try ma-contain.”
While the Nigerian big has been proven to be exploitable from time to time, Iñigo still anticipates Akowe’s absolute best ahead of their match-up.
Good thing then that UST has a reliable FSA of its own in Senegalese Racine Kane.
In their previous face-off, Kane rang off 18 points, 16 rebounds, and three blocks against Akowe’s 11 points and five boards.
“Siyempre mabigat si Collins kaysa sa kanya eh, so tinuturo lang namin sa kanya kung saan tamang pwesto niya para hindi rin siya masyado mahirapan. Tapos pinapakita rin namin sa kanya yung weaknesses ni Collins para at least, pagdating sa game, mas magaan para kay Racine,” Iñigo added.
Earlier the season, Iñigo boldly claimed that Kane will ultimately be better than Akowe.
Now, we will get to see who truly reigns as the UAAP’s best reinforcement - and on the biggest stage too.
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