With Bo Perasol stepping down as head coach of the UP Fighting Maroons and the university elevating him to take over the position of program director, there is an opening for a new seniors basketball team tactician.

An official announcement is scheduled to be released by the University of the Philippines on Thursday, July 15, as the team’s top brass, including Perasol, team manager Agaton Uvero, and Nowhere to Go but UP chairman Renan Dalisay, start their coaching search process.

According to trusted sources following the situation, there are as many as five potential candidates – Goldwin Monteverde, Patrick Aquino, Xavi Nunag, Mo Gingerich, and Poch Juinio – to take over Perasol’s role.

Monteverde, a well-respected head coach in the high school ranks, is known for his success leading National University’s juniors teams to two UAAP titles. 

He stepped down as the Bullpups’ coach in August 2020, not long after many of his team’s top recruits shifted schools for the college ranks. 

A few of those blue-chippers, particularly Carl Tamayo, Gerry Abadiano, and Terrence Fortea, are now in the Fighting Maroons’ program.

Monteverde is known for his disciplined approach to development and team-building, and his knack for in-game adjustments.

Aquino has likewise enjoyed unprecedented success as the mentor of the National University Lady Bulldogs. 

Since taking over the team in 2014, NU won six consecutive UAAP titles, including going an undefeated 96-0 during that span, becoming arguably the collegiate league’s most dominant basketball force ever.

Aquino, who also coaches the Philippine women’s basketball team, was a former player for the Fighting Maroons from 1988 to 1993. He has a lot of support within the UP community given his roots with the university.

The same can be said for Nunag, a former Fighting Maroon in the early 2000s, who recently joined the UPMBT coaching staff. 

Nunag also has experience as an assistant coach in the NCAA with San Beda, PBA D-League with Hapee, and PBA with Meralco and Purefoods. He was one of the coaches who helped elevate the performance of former NCAA champion and now PBA veteran Baser Amer.

Gingerich played for the Fighting Maroons until 2014 and joined the coaching staff not long after. As one of the most well-liked members of the UP community, he has good relationships with the players, and spent more than half a decade learning as an assistant, thus giving him momentum as potential candidate to lead the team.

The same holds true for Juinio, a former Fighting Maroon and teammate of Perasol in the early ’90s and two-time PBA All-Star with Alaska, Pop Cola, Coca-Cola, and TNT.

The 14-year PBA veteran, who’s now 48, is also well-respected for his ability to connect with players. He was a close confidant of Paul Desiderio, the former King Maroon who helped lead UP to a UAAP finals appearance in 2018. 

Juinio has also been an assistant coach for years and is well-familiar with the different systems implemented in college basketball.

Whoever takes over the head coaching position of the Fighting Maroons will be given the unique chance to coach a finals contender. 

Despite the departure of Bright Akhuetie, Kobe Paras, and the Gomez de Liaño brothers, UP is still stacked with talent. 

In addition to the Maroons’ three new recruits, they still have UAAP wing veterans Ricci Rivero and transferee CJ Cansino. Former CEU big man Malick Diouf is also slated to make his UPMBT debut, same for former La Salle high schools prospects Joel Cagulangan and RC Calimag. 

UP also has a number of players in its high school program worth recruiting into the seniors lineup, like Ray Allen Torres and Aldous Torculas. 

Perasol moves on to his next role leaving big shoes to fill after becoming the first coach to lead the Maroons to a finals appearance in 32 years. – Rappler.com