MANILA, Philippines – With a predominantly homegrown Ateneo team going undefeated in their first 6 games in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament, National University (NU) Bulldogs head coach Jamike Jarin is proud of his former Blue Eaglets despite the Bulldogs’ loss to the Blue Eagles.

Jarin praised his pure blue-blooded players for their development in the collegiate scene from their tender high school years. 

“I am always proud of them. They will always be my children, and I will always be proud with wherever and whatever they will do in the future,” said the Bulldogs head coach. 

“Just makes me proud that they have matured and they’ve really been learning a lot from the coaches in Ateneo, especially Coach Tab Baldwin.”

Jarin coached the Ateneo Blue Eaglets for 13 years, during which he was able to lead the Katipunan-based juniors squad to 12 UAAP finals appearances and 8 titles. 

From the current Blue Eagles roster, the legendary coach of the high school hoops has coached Kris Porter, Anton Asistio, Thirdy Ravena, Aaron Black, BJ Andrade, Gian Mamuyac, while Jolo Mendoza and the Nieto twins also joined him in the RP U16 Youth team’s stint in the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship. 

“These young men – before they were kids, but now they are young men. And like I said, I’m very proud of them. I will always cherish the good memories and the bad memories we had and we are a family,” said Jarin. 

Another product of Jarin from the Blue Eaglet team was NU rookie guard Enzo Joson, who started in the UAAP for the first time against his former team mates. 

Jarin had no intention of matching up the Ateneo High School-grown player against his former team mates, but the Bulldogs coach believed that Joson was already ready for this pressure. 

“Well Enzo Joson, he’s a rookie coming into the UAAP, we just felt that he was ready to start. It’s not because it was Ateneo, but it was time for him to start because of the performance he has been doing in the past games,” said Jarin.

Joson was the second leading scorer for the Bulldogs, dropping a career-high of 14 points, and was vital in creating plays for his team mates with 7 assists and two steals. 

“He’s a good revelation right now. It’s a good thing he came out of his shell today, over-achieved. There’s still a lot of improvement not only for Enzo, but also for the whole NU Bulldogs,” said Jarin of Joson’s performance against the Blue Eagles. 

The Ateneo Blue Eagles’ last game of the first round eliminations will be against the DLSU Green Archers, while the NU Bulldogs will go head-to-head with the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons on Sunday, October 8, at the Mall of Asia Arena. – Rappler.com