Colegio de San Juan de Letran’s loyal Knight will have his hands full in the coming months.
Long-tenured mentor Allen Ricardo was named interim head coach of the Knights, on top of his current duties in leading the Squires in their title defense bid this season.
Replacing the vacancy left by former head coach Rensy Bajar, Ricardo stated that the Knights last had practices in almost two months.
“For the meantime, while naghahanap sila ng head coach, sasaluhin ko muna,” the reigning Coach of the Year stated.
As the juniors squad looks on to the rest of the month with a three-day-a-week schedule, Ricardo will also have to start preparing the college team starting next week.
And Letran will have a loaded squad, including the holdovers from last season; Rensy Bajar’s recruits Jonas Napalang, Nathan Montecillo, James Jumao-as, Shad Chang, among others; and new boys Chris Hubilla, Peter Rosillo, Drex Delos Reyes, Emman Galman, Mark Omega, and Gov. Delta Pineda’s Kapampangan ballers.
“By Monday, magsisimula na kami sa training, parang more than 50 players ata ‘yun,” Ricardo said.
According to the seasoned tactician, these next two weeks will be the most crucial step in their selection process as only the top 25 to 30 players will make it to their final pool.
“Mahirap din mangako, kasi ‘yung dugo’t pawis nila ang nakasalalay,” Ricardo said, noting that the college will assist those who will not be selected in finding different schools.
Despite his outlook on the position mainly being temporary, Ricardo is grateful for the chance to lead the school he’s served with pride for many years, returning to his days as an assistant for then-head coach Louie Alas.
“We’ll take it day by day. Kung Letran lang naman, yun lang naman ang commitment so far, I guess it will be manageable to handle ng sabay for the meantime,” he concluded.
Ricardo will be joined by his Squires coaching staff in assisting the college team throughout the next month during their transition process.
