TAB Baldwin may have cracked the code for Ateneo’s recruitment strategy when it comes to this arms race for talent.
And it's one that's zagging when almost every other competitor is zigging.
By securing the one-and-done trio of Kymani Ladi, Dom Escobar, and Jaden Lazo, the Blue Eagles came within a single win of forcing a three-way playoff for the No. 4 seed before closing UAAP Season 88 at 6-8.
Ladi and Escobar showed the way in scoring, averaging 14.29 and 11.07 points per game, respectively, ahead of Lazo’s five points per outing.
Will this encourage Baldwin to continue the one-and-done approach alongside the relentless hunt for top-tier ‘true rookies?' For sure.
“Will we pursue players that are one-and-done? Yes, if we think they’re the right character and if we think there’s a need in the team for that,” he said.
“Are we excited about the prospect of recruiting young freshmen incoming players that we believe are going to contribute over the long term? Absolutely.”
But there’s one area Baldwin himself wouldn't be touching: transfers.
The Ateneo head coach has no plans to make the first move on any player from another team - whether that be in the UAAP or the NCAA.
Or relating it to a past case that hits close to home, Baldwin isn’t interested in making another team feel what they felt when Mason Amos transferred from Katipunan to rival Taft - or perhaps what University of the East and Far Eastern University felt when Rey Remogat and Veejay Pre, respectively, departed for Diliman.
“Are we in the market for a transfer? Why not, if the player could be a good Atenean and if the player is the type of person and student who believes they would be better off in Ateneo,” he explained.
“But will I pursue transfers? Never. You can put that in capital letters.
“If somebody comes knocking on my door, we will look at their situation in terms of the welfare for that player and the welfare for our program.”
Ateneo moves forward
From one-year wonders to Fil-foreign gems and from promising players already on the roster and tantalizing talents in high schools all over the country, Baldwin expects Ateneo to remain, in his words, ‘a potpourri of players that come out of various recruiting scenarios.’
“We’re gonna recruit to our needs and our recruiting will be across the gamut of all potential recruiting scenarios,” he said.
“We have to move forward, and the looking ahead part is for our returning players and the lessons of a very difficult season - a year that had a lot of rewards and a season that had a lot of extremely difficult moments.”
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