CHICAGO - After nearly a year of persistent but placid threats of firing the greatest coach its basketball program ever had, Ateneo made peace with common sense on
Saturday.
Hours before Season 88 of the UAAP men's basketball wars began, the Blue Eagles announced that they had inked coach Tab Baldwin to a three-year contract extension.
Pending a Final Four appearance, or fate-willing, a fifth championship since 2017, this signing was undoubtedly the Jesuit school's biggest win of the season.
READ Bahay excited to build Ateneo's future with re-signed Baldwin
When asked for details about the deal, coach Tab skirted the question like a DPWH engineer at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing.
But sources with knowledge of the "highly amicable" negotiations told me that Baldwin's package pays in the high six figures a month, easily the richest among his peers.
AS IT SHOULD BE.
Baldwin, you see, IS the program, a brand whose marketability has spilled beyond sports and into the realm of pop culture. The increased value in reputation and recognition Ateneo hoops has reached under his watch is priceless.
"Regarding the term, I was thinking, with the uncertainty that comes with age, year-to-year. But in the face of stronger competition, Ateneo preferred a much longer union," he told me in a telephone interview on Saturday night.
Here's why that made sense.
The negative recruiting war against the Blue Eagles is waged on two fronts - one is the difficult academics and the other is the idea of Tab Baldwin leaving.
Keeping the sideline savant on their side takes care of one issue while the other is not bound to change.
Even in the unlikely possibility that Ateneo won't re-sign him, Baldwin, a meticulous planner, had a Plan B and Plan C in place.
"Possibly back to the US for a non-head coaching position, or a similar role in Australia," he revealed.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME.
Instead, the Kiwi-American was at a gym inside the UST campus where he dragged Ateneo from the peril of a six-point deficit at the 1:54 mark in overtime to stun FEU, 86-83.
While Kymani Ladi (26 points, 9 rebounds) and Jared Bahay (13 points, 5 assists) were cashing in like the ATM in a convenience store, Baldwin provided the tactical leadership.
In the welter of that big heavyweight fight, Tab was as calm as the eye of a storm.
"We had a lot of mistakes in the end and for a young team, we could have easily broken down. After pointing out the mistakes, coach Tab quickly redirected the focus on what was needed to happen," a Blue Eagles assistant coach told me.
Approaching midnight, with Sunday knocking on the door, coach Tab ended our interview at 11:35 pm and said, "Gonna do my game review now."
No rest for the weary, so says an old adage. And definitely none for the top coach in the UAAP.
Even in the best of times.
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