With so many supporters willing to help them train abroad and find talented players for them, don’t be surprised if University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons could be a Final Four fixture beginning this season.
“Nowhere to go but up. As the community proclaimed, nowhere to go but UP. They’ve clearly leveled up. If there are dark ages in basketball history, this team has moved to the age of enlightenment. A period of Renaissance,” said businessman JJ Atencio.
“I don’t think it’s possible to go back to those times again. It’s a different outlook now. The team and the community is now looking to be a perennial contender from now on,” added Atencio chairman of Januarius Holdings which owns athletic apparel STATS.
In fact, the Maroons are setting their sights on a much bigger prize after finishing runners-up last season.
Joining the Fighting Maroons, who will be handled by Bo Perasol, in this season’s UAAP wars are highly-touted second generation player Kobe Paras and promising Ricci Rivero, two former members of Gilas Pilipinas national pool, who will combine forces with holdovers Bright Akhuetie and the De Liaño Brothers – Juan Gerardo and Javier Joaquin, giving the team a brighter future in its coming campaign.
Atencio and Perasol believe that this year’s Fighting Maroons can make it again to the semis – which is the team’s initial goal.
Perasol is grateful for the support of well-meaning friends — all strong believers of his program.
Atencio is one of them, and he enjoys supporting a team which dreams big.
“I liked the idea because it impacts not only on the team itself, but in the personal lives of the players as well. In our first year, STATS helped UP go to IMPACT Basketball Academy in Las Vegas. I’d like to think that this training was a big part of their campaign as they ended up fifth. Then last year, we sent them to Serbia, then they became second. This year, they went to Las Vegas, again, for more skills training.
Though a known Ateneo alumnus, Atencio said helping others is a Jesuit way.
“Helping the UP Team achieve its potential is actually a very Jesuit thing. In Ateneo, we are taught to be “Men for Others” and that would happily apply to a basketball team that has no academic or fraternal links. And it helped that I knew UP President Danny Concepcion who I credit for the re-emergence of UP. Asked all appreciation during his term, that the UP Coach used to coach the Blue Eagles and that the leaders of Nowhere To Go but UP as well as the players whose journey is an inspiration for me.
