MANILA, Philippines – What’s next for the Ateneo Blue Eagles?

After bagging their 5th straight crown in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament last week, the university is already taking the next steps to ensure the basketball program’s success.

In a memo issued on Oct 15, 2012, Ateneo university president Fr Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ announced the creation of the “Basketball Endowment Fund,” to “offset” the exit of Manuel V. Pangilinan, who used to fund the university’s basketball program.

The fund will also finance the school’s women’s and juniors’ teams. “In this way, as in the past, we do not have to draw from the revenue streams of our University Athletics Office to support basketball,” Villarin said in the memo addressed to the Ateneo community.

Villarin said that the university will “assess the current cost profile; define funding targets; establish strategic and operational policies and structures; develop a set of viable goals and initiatives for the BEF; and organize marketing and promotions campaigns, among other things.”

Read the memo in full here:

Pangilinan and Ateneo made news in recent weeks after the business mogul announced his “complete and final disengagement” from the university.

Norman Black, who was Blue Eagles head coach at that time, considered leaving his post mid-season after Pangilinan’s announcement. He was, however, convinced by Pangilinan to stay on.

Black eventually left his post at the end of the UAAP season to return to the professional league. -Rappler.com