THROUGHOUT UAAP Season 88, La Salle fans repeatedly pleaded for ‘one more year’ for seniors Angel Canino, Shevana Laput, Amie Provido, and Lyka de Leon.
Turns out, there may be another key figure in Taft still on the fence about what's in the foreseeable future.
Fresh off delivering La Salle its long-awaited 13th championship, head coach Ramil de Jesus admitted that he has also begun thinking about his own future with the program he built from the ground up.
“Hindi naman permanente 'tong posisyon ko eh. Pinag-iisipan ko na rin ‘yun,” he said during a rare instance he allowed reporters for a scrum following the post-game press conference.
READ: This is the moment RDJ knew this year was DLSU's. Find out when
With his latest title, de Jesus further bolstered his claim among elite shot-callers in collegiate sporting history, surpassing basketball coaching icons Baby Dalupan (12) and Turo Valenzona (11) in championships won.
But with 26 seasons on the sidelines and undisclosed health concerns in recent years, the winningest coach in volleyball acknowledged that Father Time has begun catching up.
In this light, despite all he has achieved, RDJ knows coaching offers no guarantees beyond the present, as tomorrow is never ever promised.
“Hangga’t pinagkakaloob sa taas, tanggapin lang natin kung kaya pa. Kung hindi naman na kaya, edi magpahinga na,” he said.
One more year - and more and more
Ironically, the uncertainty surrounding de Jesus now mirrors that of his own current championship core, all of whom remain undecided on whether they will return for one last season after restoring La Salle to the summit.
And Canino, Laput, Provido, and de Leon's mentor himself appears to still be mulling over whether there remains more juice to be squeezed out of his tactical greatness.
For now, though, he is hopeful that Season 88 was not yet his last ride.
“Hopefully, makabalik kung pagkakaloob sa taas na malakas tayo,” he said with an ever-rare smile.
The Lady Spikers and the green-and-white community sure hope so, too.
After all, dynasties are always built and reinforced by an architect.
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