LEOMER Losentes may no longer be chasing his PBA dreams, but he sure wants to help the next generation get there.
The former St. Francis of Assisi standout is now manning the sidelines, serving as assistant coach for Tagum club Blancas del Norte.
Losentes, 40, helped the squad win the Davao del Norte local qualifying tournament to earn their ticket to the 2025 Smart-NBTC Mindanao Regional Championship and made a good account of themselves in Oroquieta City.
It's a job that the former Doves guard relishes, saying, "Masaya tayo na nakakapagturo tayo sa mga bata mula sa Davao del Norte.
It was just seven years ago when Losentes was one of the original players in the inaugural season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, playing for GenSan Warriors and being one of the team's leading scorers.
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But that stint lasted for only a season as an ACL injury abruptly cut his return short and no longer decided to go on rehab.
"Nung na-injure ako nung 2019, hindi ko na pinaopera," he shared, choosing to tend to his brother's brown egg business.
But the call of the hard court is just too much to resist even for Losentes that in 2022, he joined the Blancas upon the invite of a friend.
Since then, he's proud of what the team has accomplished.
"Nag-start kami mga Class B tournament lang. Tapos nakakalaro na kami sa mga liga sa Davao at nakakasabay na. Tapis this year sa NBTC, awa ni Lord, nakuha namin yung championship sa Davao del Norte," said the pride of Cateel, Davao Oriental.
Asked if he gets inputs from his former teammates like Ranidel de Ocampo, who is now an assistant for TNT, and Al Vergara, who is the head coach of the Lyceum Junior Pirates, Losentes answered in the affirmative and has made it a point to share these wisdom to his players.
"Naishe-share ko talaga sa kanila lalo na yung galing kila Ranidel at Al kung paano mag-lead sa team," he said. "Naabot nila yung ganyang level dahil sa attitude nila kaya yun yung gusto kong maging motivaton din sa kanila kung paano sila nakarating doon."
As lethal of a scorer as Losentes was in his heyday, what he wants to impart to his wards more is to have the right attitude, saying: "Kahit anong galing mo, kung wala kang tamang attitude, wala kang mararating."
"Yung mga skills, madaling ituro sa bata pero mas kailangang ituro yung tamang attitude, yung disiplina sa sarili, respeto sa kahit sino na makasalamuha mo. Dapat humble ka lang palagi kasi kung maganda yung attitude mo, ibe-bless ka ni Lord."
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