WHEN we talk about the University of the Philippines (UP), what comes to mind are the graduates who populate the upper strata of our society.
We have past presidents and vice presidents, lawmakers, justices of the Supreme Court, military men and celebrities, business leaders, communist and Moro leaders, a White House executive chef, comedians, yes, we have them all.
But UP pales in comparison to most of the big colleges and universities in the country in terms of sporting excellence, particularly basketball. It could be because their academic programs take precedence over their athletic programs that it took decades for the institution to join the elites of college basketball.
The stars finally aligned and the long wait is over. After being marooned in mediocrity for 21 years, the UP Fighting Maroons made it to the UAAP Final Four, taking the third spot behind Ateneo and Adamson.
Evading the arrows sent their way by the De LaSalle Green Archers, they cruised to a 16-point win on Wednesday.
The Green Archers will be cheering for the Adamson Falcons tomorrow, hoping they will prevail over the FEU Tamaraws and thus get the last ticket to the Final Four.
If the Tamaraws do win, a three-way tie happens between UP, LaSalle and FEU at the end of eliminations with the three teams sporting a similar 8-6 win-loss record. But the Maroons will advance because of a superior quotient.
This complicates matters for the Green Archers as they will then have a do-or-die battle with FEU for a spot in the Final Four.
UP last had the UAAP title in 1986. It starred the deadly guard combo of Ronnie Magsanoc and Eric Altamirano plus rookie center Benjie Paras. Altamirano was named MVP that season, the last UP product named UAAP MVP.
It is a big achievement for UP already to be back in the Final Four after more than two decades. But they need to be grounded and not let the euphoria get into their heads. More important battles are still to be fought and they need to focus on what lies ahead.
It’s still a long shot but the Fighting Maroons do have a chance of making it to the Finals, if Adamson cooperates.
This will be a fitting tribute to graduating team captain Paul Desiderio who had endured the struggles during his 2013 rookie season. He joined the Batang Gilas in 2014 for the FIBA U-17 Championships in Dubai and because of that commitment with the youth team, he skipped the UAAP season, re-joining the Maroons a year later.
Desiderio entertained the idea of foregoing his final season with UP and join the PBA Draft but had a change of heart and decided to play and help his team one last time. It was a good decision.
His father Abner is a childhood friend and their house is less than 200 meters away from ours. Both parents fly to Manila whenever UP plays and I am seriously entertaining the idea of going with them when they meet the Falcons sometime next week. I would very much like to hear another version of that now famous “Atin to! Papasok to!” from “Mr. Atin To” himself./PN
