By Jerome Lagunzad
Determined to end University of the Philippines’ three-decade long title drought in the UAAP, veteran coach Bo Perasol continues to get the key pieces to complete the Fighting Maroons’ championship puzzle.
The Diliman-based squad got another big boost upfront as they secured the services of reigning NCAA juniors MVP Will Gozum, who’s expected to team up with blue-chip recruit Bright Akhuetie down low starting in UAAP Season 81.
It will be a homecoming of sorts for the 6-foot-6 Gozum, 18, who initially suited up for UP-Integrated School before he transferred to Mapua where he developed into one of the most dominant big men in the juniors division.
The latest development further bolsters the Fighting Maroons’ chances of making it to the Final Four for the first time since 1997 and possibly clinching the coveted title they bagged in 1986 behind a potent team led by eventual pro league greats Benjie Paras and Ronnie Magsanoc.
“What we are actively doing is put the right people who will eventually give us a good fighting chance to be in the Final 4,” Perasol told Tempo-Bulletin yesterday. “Winning the title is the ultimate goal. However, those are the goals of every program too. It’s always a competition that we have to win.”
Racking up a victory after another appears to be more realistic than ever for the Fighting Maroons if and when Gozum, along with the 6-foot-7 Akhuetie and former Adamson guard Jaydee Tungcab, can live up to the hype.
