FORMER Stags star Egay Macaraya is in line for a San Sebastian homecoming - as its next coach in the NCAA.
Sources told Spin.ph Macaraya is on the verge of getting the coaching job in his alma mater after a campaign that saw the Stags miss out on the NCAA Final Four despite an impressive late run under Rodney Santos.
Macaraya, a former PBA player, will be bringing with him an impressive resume as coach adorned by multiple titles with Centro Escolar University in the National Athletic Association for Schools, Colleges, and Universities (Naascu).
He also guided the CEU-backed Café France squad to a PBA D-League title, beating powerhouse Hapee Toothpaste in the Foundation Cup Finals.
The news of Macaraya's impending return to San Sebastian comes amid a wave of coaching changes in the college leagues beginning with the resignation of Ateneo's Bo Perasol and La Salle's Juno Sauler.
Aldin Ayo, who led Letran to its first NCAA title in a decade right in his first year in charge, is set to be announced as the new La Salle coach while Franz Pumaren is being eyed to replace Mike Fermin at Adamson.
[See Letran to form seach committee, vows to find 'someone equal or better' than Ayo]
Sources said Macaraya will likely keep his post with the CEU Scorpions when he takes on the San Sebastian post. The two schools, incidentally, are only a short walk from each other in the Legarda area.
Despite coaching other teams, Macaraya, sources said, has remained very close to San Sebastian officials and priests. He was even spotted at the back of San Sebastian bench in a few games this season.
The Stags hope to reinvigorate a basketball program that has struggled since Pampanga vice governor Dennis Pineda, who brought Calvin Abueva, Ian Sangalang, and Ronald Pascual to the Recto-based team, had a falling-out with San Sebastian officials and left as principal backer.
A San Sebastian official declined to comment, but said Santos and the coaching staff still have live contracts with the squad.
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