MANILA – Alfredo “Pido” Jarencio has vowed to restore University of Santo Tomas’ pride in the UAAP men’s seniors basketball in his return as the head coach of the Growling Tigers.
The Sigma, Capiz native recently signed a three-year contract with the Growling Tigers in the hope of rebuilding the squad after a dismal 1-13 campaign under former coach Bal David last season.
“We’re given a difficult task, so it is important to start with laying a strong foundation for these kids,” said Jarencio, who was the last coach to steer UST to UAAP glory in 2006. “They should represent UST with pride.”
Jarencio was in his rookie year as UST head coach when they ruled UAAP Season 69. He called the shots for the yellow and gold until 2013 where the Growling Tigers was a consistent Final Four contender and even reached the finals twice more.
The 58-year-old Jarencio was then elevated as the head coach of NorthPort Batang Pier in the PBA until he was recently moved as the squad’s team manager, which opened the doors for his UST return.
As part of his Growling Tigers return, Jarencio has tapped two of his former UST players as his assistant coaches in John Paul Cuan and Jeric Fortuna together with Juben Ledesma, Lester del Rosario, and Jaren Jarencio.
Bonnie Tan, who steered the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights to three straight NCAA titles, returned to his alma mater as team consultant while Waiyip Chong and Eric Ang served as team managers.
In his first few months as UST head coach, Jarencio already made a splash in recruitment by securing the services of Rhayyan Amsali, James Una, SJ Moore, Gabriel Obusan, Chase Lane and Peter Osang.
Still returning to the Growling Tigers from their UAAP Season 85 roster were Nicael Cabanero, Miguel Pangilinan, Royce Mantua, Kenji Duremdes, Echo Laure and Jarencio’s fellow Capiznon Christian Manaytay.
“We need to fix a lot of things, but it is important that these players trust the system that we’re setting up for them,” said Jarencio. “I have full confidence that the team we’re building will fight until the end for UST.”/PN
