CHICAGO — After posting a couple of nuggets about the Ateneo Blue Eagles this past few days, I got a call from a current PBA coach.
“Are you mad at Louie (Alas)?”
Well, I don’t know the interim Blue Eagles coach enough to like him and I don’t see any reason to dislike him, either.
READ New Ateneo coach Alas turns to Letran legends for help
I’m friendly with his son, Kevin, and I am well aware of the exploits of his younger son Kieffer, who currently plays for him at the Jesuit school.
In one of my posts, I inferred that certain players probably earned the privilege to start.
FIVE ACES FOR COACH ALAS.
But after talking to my UAAP sources, I found out that coach Louie, not that he needs anybody’s permission, is merely putting five of Ateneo’s best players in the starting unit.
Kieffer Alas. Travis Roberts. EJ Kapihe. Sultan Baruwa. Jared Bahay.
Among the five, Kieffer has drawn most of the anti-Ateneo ire where the N is repeatedly brought up.
Nepotism.
That’s just not the case. Regardless of who’s at the helm, resigned coach Tab Baldwin included, Kieffer not only starts, he stars.
CERTIFIED BALLER.
Yeah, the kid’s that good. His US coaches at Leyton Christian Academy (Casey Stanley) and Utah Prep (Mark Dickel) told me so.
And Kieffer did have legit US NCAA Division 1 offers.
So it’s time for me to put thus nepotism talk in the trash.
As for coach Louie?
I believe he deserves the benefit of the doubt given the circumstances that his program was dealing with when he inherited it.
So for now, let’s all just take a deep breath.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
