CHICAGO - After nine glorious years, it's midnight at Katipunan and the noon check-out time for coach Tab Baldwin now appears to be set in stone.
After emerging from the debris of a 4-10 UAAP Season 87 campaign where the Blue Eagles missed the Final Four party, the decision-makers at Ateneo have not sent feelers to extend Baldwin's contract that is set to expire in January 2026.
According to a major school booster, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, what coach Tab got instead in a meeting several weeks ago was an ultimatum: Win a championship or pack your bags.
COLUMN: Is Kymani Ladi the guy that can reverse Ateneo fortunes?
Even with a line-up beefed up by one-and-done Fil-Ams Jaden Lazo and Dominic Escobar, plus Kymani Ladi and Divine Adili joining forces with Jared Bahay and Kristian Porter, Ateneo is unlikely to win all the marbles in UAAP Season 88.
And that grim outlook weaponizes the ultimatum as a de facto termination.
Efforts to reach the Kiwi-Ameircan tactician to comment on the story were unsuccessful as of posting time, but several sources with knowledge of the brewing divorce told me that Tab is said to be dismayed.
AS HE SHOULD BE.
Ultimatums are never a good thing. They are the fuelling furnace for resentment, stress and fractures in a relationship.
It's unfortunate that after building a dynasty with four titles and making Ateneo a go-to destination for recruits with his imperious 98-33 record, the school chose to abandon Tab at a time when a supportive shoulder to lean on was needed.
This is shocking but not unforeseen.
But if I know coach Tab, whom I broke bread with at a two-hour brunch at the Hyatt Hotel here in Chicago last December, there will be no defiance, just a quiet acceptance of his fate.
He will continue to perform his duties even as the sands on the hour glass of his tenure is irreversibly flowing.
Set to embark on a June 1 trip to Madrid with the Blue Eagles, Tab will keep teaching and spur into action his latest crop of players. And you can bet your last dollar that even against the greatest odds, he will take a mighty swing for a fifth crown.
THE CIRCUS IS COMING.
His lame duck status, however, will be a distraction. And rival universities can make a "Tab's not coming back" pitch for recruits in Season 89 and beyond.
Having been previously fired as a coach seven times before, Tab knows the drill. And that includes looking sideways for the next landing spot.
The usual array of suitors - Jordan and Indonesia - whom Baldwin has stiff-armed for years will now likely get a welcoming wave. The NBL in Australia, where his coaching tree has sprouted, could be the next stop.
The free agency market is not arid for a coach with impecable credentials that include multiple championships in both amateur and pro ranks, several Coach of the Year honors, and extended runs with a handful of national teams.
We're just 118 days before September. It's Season 88 of the UAAP men's basketball tournament.
But for Blue Eagles fans, it's the end of an era.
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