RUMOR: UAAP champion Ateneo had the inside track on Bacolod sensation Kib Montalbo until tycoon Eduardo 'Danding' Cojuangco stepped in and tilted the recruitment war in De La Salle's favor.
FACTS: Roger Montalbo was a former player of the University of Saint La Salle basketball team in Bacolod City, so it made perfect sense that his son, Kib, followed suit and committed to play for the De La Salle Green Archers in the UAAP.
“Lasallista rin kasi ako from Bacolod and his mother is from La Salle,” the elder Montalbo told Spin.ph. “I believe (Kib) will be a good fit for La Salle.”
However, the journey from Bacolod to La Salle's Taft campus wasn't as straightforward for one of the most celebrated players to come out of Sugarlandia, with several Manila-based teams, including the Archers' top rival Ateneo, pouring in a lot of time and effort to their respective bids to land 'The Kib.'
A high-ranking Ateneo team official admitted that former Ateneo head coach Norman Black had made several visits to the St. John Institute high school star for the past few years, even spending time with Montalbo every University Games in Bacolod that the Eagles took part in.
Another source also said Montalbo has even struck up a friendship with Ateneo star Kiefer Ravena.
Montalbo's decision to join La Salle, therefore, came as a shock to the reigning UAAP champions, with one former Blue Eagle player unable to stop himself from expressing his surprise on Twitter.
Roger Montalbo, however, clarified that they never made any commitment to any school prior to joining La Salle.
“In the first place, we haven’t committed to any school before,"" the elder Montalbo said. ""All schools made ligaw, not only Ateneo but also UST (University of Santo Tomas), Adamson, FEU (Far Eastern University), and the rest made an offer.”
Sources said Black's departure from Ateneo for Talk ‘N Text in the PBA after leading the Blue Eagles to a fifth successive UAAP title and the impending move of another highly recruited guard, Jerie Pingoy of the FEU juniors team, to the Blue Eagles weighed heavily in Montalbo's decision to commit to La Salle.
But the clincher for La Salle, sources said, was the personal visits made to Montalbo by someone you might least expect — no less than business tycoon and chief Archers patron Eduardo ‘Danding’ Cojuangco.
The former godfather of the Philippine team has deeply involved himself in the team's affairs since returning to his old role as the Archers' top backer. He was very visible both in the team's practices and games last season despite his health condition, even showing up in a wheelchair during one of the Archers' preseason games.
His fingerprints were also all over the school's successful bid to land Montalbo.
Sources said that during the University Games in Bacolod last year, Cojuangco even stayed for one day in the city to meet Montalbo personally. During that stay Cojuangco took time out to join head coach Gee Abanilla and other team officials in watching Montalbo play in the Negros Occidental Private Schools Sports Cultural Educational Foundation (Nopsscea) championship game against University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos.
The elder Montalbo confirmed Cojuangco's visits to Bacolod and admitted these were a ""big plus"" in the Archers' bid to sign his son.
“La Salle didn’t give up on him especially ‘yung factor na si Boss Danding mismo going over personally sa St. John’s. That was a big plus, I think,” he said. “Pumunta personally si Boss Danding, mahirap gawin ‘yun.
""Malaking tao, pupunta dito, malaking malaking bagay talaga.”
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