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    UAAP Preview: Can rebuilding UST deliver another shocker?

    Growling Tigers still picking pieces up after controversial 2020 offseason
    Mar 21, 2022
    UST Jinino Manansala Sherwin Concepcion Joshua Fontanilla
    New coach Jinino Manansala hopes holdover Sherwin Concepcion and recruit Joshua Fontanilla can make immediate impacts for the Tigers.
    PHOTO: Dante Peralta

    (Editor's note: This is the third of a series of team previews for the UAAP Season 84.)

    UAAP Preview: UST

    WHAT HAPPENED WHEN? Defying expectations, University of Santo Tomas delivered a journey to remember back in UAAP Season 82.

    Emulating the scrappy ways of coach Aldin Ayo, the Growling Tigers led by Soulemane Chabi Yo, Rhenz Abando, Mark Nonoy, and CJ Cansino, as well as veterans Renzo Subido and Zach Huang, had to scratch and claw their way up the stepladder semis as the fourth seed after their 8-6 elimination run, taking down Far Eastern University and University of the Philippines to be the last hurdle for the juggernaut Ateneo crew.

    The Growling Tigers gave it their all but just fell short against the mighty Blue Eagles, yet drew fans who believed that this group was primed for the future.

    Those dreams, however, had to remain just that -- dreams -- as an ill-advised Sorsogon bubble back in 2020 left the team in shambles.

    WHAT NOW? Whoa boy, where do we start?

    Of all the players who saw action the last time UAAP staged a tournament, only two players -- Sherwin Concepcion and Dave Ando -- remain in España after the mass exodus in the fallout of the controversy.

    Players from Team B like Paul Manalang, Jun Asuncion, and Christian Manaytay will get their chances this time out, and they certainly showed glimpses of what they could do in the tournaments that UST participated before the pandemic forced everyone to go back in the comforts of their homes.

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      WHAT'S NEXT? Safe to say, it will be a tough climb for the Growling Tigers to replicate the stunning success they had back in 2019.

      Yet one thing working for UST will be these same low bars as they head into UAAP Season 94 with meager expectations under new coach Jinino Manansala who, we should note, is also a decorated mentor in his own right in his time with St. Clare and one who is willing to continue the strides that Ayo started.

      Unheralded additions in Joshua Fontanilla and Bryan Santos are going to be vital pieces for the Growling Tigers' ascent this year, while rookies Jordi Gomez de Liano, Bryan Samudio, and Royce Mantua are sure to get their licks in their first year in the college level.

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      New coach Jinino Manansala hopes holdover Sherwin Concepcion and recruit Joshua Fontanilla can make immediate impacts for the Tigers.
      PHOTO: Dante Peralta
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