CHICAGO - La Salle's recently-won UAAP men's basketball title did not only end the school's seven-year drought, it also opened a lot of doors for coach Topex Robinson.
Which isn't surprising given that victories attract opportunities the way vultures hover and eventually rip at a mangled carcass.
Per multiple sources, the Taiwan League, which once hired former Rain Or Shine assistant coach Chris Gavina to lead the Taichung Suns, has emerged as a potential landing spot for Robinson.
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At least one Japan B.League team is also reportedly eyeing him as an assistant, a position that pays between $10,000 to $12,000 a month.
In that amazing Season 86 run, Robinson revealed the depths of his brilliance. After a 30-point Game One loss, he pushed all the right buttons that allowed the Green Archers to take down mighty UP in Games Two and Three.
But to fully appreciate his work, you'd have to go back to Day One. He inherited an illustrious program that had disappointed for years. He took over basically the same core of players, learned and grew with them as they went.
Topex didn't build success overnight. He carefully nurtured it for months, using patience, positivity and focus as his primary tools.
As he peers at the job landscape from his unobstructed view on top of college basketball, Topex stands in the precipice of grabbing the bag.
WILL THE TEMPTATION LURE HIM?
When the euphoria of achieving something monumental sets in, a rush to judgement on what happens next often follows. Topex, however, is only channeling perspective.
"My task was to win and I was fortunate to have a good group of guys who helped me achieve that. I still have one year left on my contract and we look forward to defending our crown," Robinson told me in a telephone interview.
Topex refused to discuss the foreign interests he's getting. But he made one thing clear.
"I'm happy where I'm at now, man."
Unfortunately in the world of sports, happiness is fleeting and loyalty has a short memory.
Coaches are hired to be fired. Relationships between teams and coaches do not possess the bonds of intended permanence.
FROM GREEN TO BLUE?
Which is why it's prudent for Topex to entertain these offers once he is emancipated from his contractual obligations with the Green Archers.
Will the bosses at La Salle, which include a ports and casino mogul and a nest full of legal eagles, allow Topex to be poached?
Or will they give him the extension the champion coach needs to sustain the excellence he has built?
Interestingly enough, Tab Baldwin also becomes a free agent at the conclusion of UAAP Season 87 next year.
Baldwin, who has been ardently pursued by multiple parties over the years, has repeatedly told me he will consider leaving if the right offer comes along.
Once that happens, the Blue Eagles could be potentially waiting in the wings for Topex Robinson, ready to swoop in.
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