UST Growling Tigers Season 80 preview – The mighty have fallen

JR Isaga

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UST Growling Tigers Season 80 preview – The mighty have fallen
Coming off its worst season since 1994, UST continues its rebuilding phase

To anyone who has ever watched UAAP basketball in the last 5 or so years, they would certainly remember the raucous crowds of University of Santo Tomas booming out their iconic chants. “Go Uste!” was a mainstay rallying cry so simple and effective that other schools happily chant along whenever possible.

Sadly, those loud voices may be reduced significantly to half-hearted cries.

After the massive heartbreak of losing a do-or-die finals game with eventual Season 78 champions Far Eastern University led by Mac Belo, Thomasians immediately had to deal with the departure of their entire “Big 3” – 2016 PBA 2nd overall pick Kevin Ferrer, 6th pick Ed Daquioag and longtime star big man Karim Abdul. With this core, UST reached the finals 3 times in 5 years, albeit losing every time.

Worst season since 1994 

Entering Season 79 as the host university, UST was left with new captain Louie Vigil and the backcourt combo of Marvin Lee and Jon Sheriff. Hopes were high when they shot out to a 2-1 start to the season, but reality soon hit as the Growling Tigers fell all the way to 3-11, good for dead last in the league and their worst finish in 23 years. 

Vigil played like his life was dependant on it, averaging a team-high 15 points per game, but the massive black hole created by the exit of their Big 3 sucked the life from the rest of the squad. Having been perennial contenders, UST could not afford to lean away from the Big 3 and expose their prospects to extended playing time. Season 79 is where they paid the ultimate price. 

The Purge part two 

Maybe Season 80 will be better, people thought. To quote the University of the Philippines – UST has nowhere to go but up. 

Unfortunately, the Thomasian nightmare does not end there. Aside from losing the graduating Vigil, Sheriff and Kent Lao, key players Henri Subido and Mario Bonleon have opted out of playing in yellow colors. 

In an interview with top UST publication The Varsitarian, Subido admits being burned out and that he is now turning his focus to the PBA D-League. Meanwhile, Bonleon has transferred to Arellano University to play for the Chiefs in the NCAA after citing frustrations with his lack of playing time under head coach Boy Sablan.

Rebuilding on the shoulders of giants

Hope is not entirely lost, however, as the Tigers will see the returns of Lee, Jeepy Faundo and Zach Huang. Holding down the middle is returning prospect William Afoakwah and star transferee from the University of Visayas (UV), Steve Akomo. 

The 21-year-old Akomo, who has been touted by Sablan as “the future” and the “Ben Mbala stopper,” will make his UAAP debut this upcoming season. Sablan has since only had high praise for his next big thing, as Akomo once went toe-to-toe in UV with the monstrous reigning UAAP MVP Ben Mbala of De La Salle University. 

Despite the understandable hype, Akomo grounds himself and says that the UAAP will be “completely different territory,” telling Rappler, “I will not show that, ‘Yes, it’s me who’s really the stopper.’ You just play your game and people will see it. What happened with my friend Ben Mbala in Cebu stays in Cebu.”

“I will not take myself as the super player. You just have to be humble and everything will be fine. It’s more blessing if [the compliments] are coming from the fans,” he added.

The basketball empire that is UST may still have a long way to go before they reestablish dominance in the UAAP. However, with player development coming along quite nicely, it may just be a matter of time before the Tigers come pouncing out again.

UST has survived for 406 years. What’s waiting a few more? – Rappler.com

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