CHICAGO - With already more twists than a pretzel, the search for the next UE men's basketball head coach took another unexpected turn on Thursday.
Front-runner Josh Reyes is no longer the favorite to take over the once illustrious program.
"Looks like they're moving in a different direction na," a person with knowledge of the bumbling, ill-fated search told me on Friday.
COLUMN: UE facing player departures as coaching search drags on
The source revealed that while the school did target Reyes to replace Jack Santiago, whose expired contract was not renewed last January 1, the talks never arrived at a stage where a formal offer was officially made.
During the process, which involved two meetings, both sides exchanged figures, including one that was alleged to be in the province of P2 million - P1.5 million for players' meals and allowances and P500,000 for coaches' salaries.
Apparently, UE, which is boosted by rum giant Tanduay, blinked. Which is of course understandable given the dizzying number of zeroes dancing in the calculator.
MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL DISAGREEMENTS.
However, when compared to other high-caliber programs with high-caliber coaches, a P2M budget is mere spare change. High-value, high-performance assets cost money, that's the bottom-line, especially in the cutthroat UAAP wars.
Reyes may have been flattered by the interest on him, but he won't sweat that the deal appears to have fizzled. He is currently employed as assistant at both TNT and Gilas Pilipinas. Truth be told, UE needs Josh more than Reyes needs a UAAP job.
Boyzie Zamar, a UE alum with already one tour of duty as the Red Warriors' head coach, was also considered for the post but Tanduay allegedly blocked Zamar's return because of his ties with San Miguel Corp.
With Reyes and Zamar no longer in contention, Chris Gavina is now the leader in the club house.
A UE source revealed that Gavina, who had an impressive power-point presentation during his interview that lasted two hours more than a week ago, is more amenable to all the terms presented to him.
GAVINA IS MORE THAN CAPABLE.
Besides his sterling credentials that include stints in the PBA and the Taiwan League, Gavina has the backing of the powerful Fil-AM Select. He is also reportedly being supported by MPBL heavyweight Abra, which is angling to be a major basketball and volleyball booster at UE.
Gavina couldn't be reached for comment for this piece, but he did communicate with me last January 27 confirming his desire to take his talents to the UAAP and turn around a program that hasn't seen the Final Four in 15 excruciating years.
There's just one hitch in a Gavina hiring. He isn't endorsed by Phenom Sports which represents foreign student athlete Precious Momowei and Fil-Am John Agate among others.
Should Gavina take over the Red Warriors there is a great chance of a Momowei-led exodus which Phenom had already warned about in the event that none of its preferred candidates for the UE coaching position get the assignment...
However, UE is prepared for the worse, Apparently, Santiago has another Nigerian recruit that can immediately take over the FSA spot should Momowei's representation make good on its threat.
Hiring coaches is complicated. But UE has taken it to another whole new level.
Their search is a Netflix special waiting to happen.
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