A cycle had just closed for Ateneo de Manila University.
Last Monday, the last of Tab Baldwin’s first batch of Blue Eagles played their final game for the blue and white.
That cycle was headlined by the celebrated quintet of Thirdy Ravena, the Nieto twins, Isaac Go, and Adrian Wong that graduated after UAAP Season 82.
Also in that star-studded list were the likes of Anton Asistio, Vince Tolentino, Chibueze Ikeh, William Navarro, SJ Belangel, Tyler Tio, Gian Mamuyac, Kris Porter, Jolo Mendoza, Raffy Verano, and Troy Mallillin.
Every ex-Blue Eagle in that list eventually went to the pros — the majority are flourishing in the PBA while two are strutting their wares abroad.
And the graduating batch of Angelo Kouame, Dave Ildefonso, and BJ Andrade will be no different, according to Baldwin.
“They’ll all play professionally, and I think that you might see very diverse paths for them.”
No longer having Kouame is the one that will be the most impactful for Ateneo.
“Look, the praise for me needs to be spun around as quickly as possible. I mean, I can’t imagine coaching without Ange Kouame,” said Baldwin as Kouame, Andrade, and Ildefonso sang their praises for their mentor — calling him the greatest of all time.
“I’ll wake up tomorrow, and Ange won’t be on my team. You know, what do I do?”
Baldwin hopes to see Kouame flourish not just in Gilas Pilipinas but also in Europe.
The 6-foot-11 naturalized Filipino has been the rock of Ateneo for the past five seasons, capping his spectacular run with the Season 84 MVP plum and Season 85 Finals MVP trophy.
“Ange of course can’t play in the PBA but he’s gonna be good enough to play as an import,” said Baldwin. “And we’ll have to try and figure out, help him with his future, maybe in Europe.
“I don’t know maybe somebody in Japan will think he’s good enough to play as an import role over there. Still got some work to do on his offensive game but he’s gonna be a pro for another ten to twelve years.”
Meanwhile, Ildefonso and Baldwin’s relationship started off on a rocky note.
After Season 80, Ateneo wanted to promote the batch of Ildefonso, Belangel, Joaqui Manuel, and Jason Credo to the seniors level.
Ildefonso though went to NU while Manuel enrolled at La Salle.
In their first meeting in Season 81, Ateneo — under the orders of Baldwin — clamped down on the super scorer to “make him re-think his decision to go to NU.”
Ildefonso eventually came back home but his role changed. And now he is bound to go to South Korea to play for Suwon KT.
“Dave’s story will never be told properly and I can’t tell it. But everybody says, oh he didn’t play well, oh he didn’t score, oh he didn’t shoot the ball well. Do you know what he did well? He let us – everybody who cared to look and who had any vision at all – he let you see his heart and it takes heart to win championships,” he said about the second generation cager.
“It was killing him that he wasn’t producing offensively. It was killing me, but he never let that affect what he did defensively, what he did on the boards, what he did in terms of hustle, what he did in terms of motivation and leadership.”
Finally, there’s Andrade.
Andrade was molded like Asistio. He had to go through playing in Glory Be before he got his chance to play with the Blue Eagles.
And Andrade grew up from being a timid guy to a leader in just one calendar year.
“BJ’s been with me, it seems like, since he was in diapers. That’s another guy who spent years sitting on the bench, not getting playing time. Now, look what he does. He leads, he fights, he defends, he hits the majority of his big free throws,” said Baldwin about Andrade who will first play for PSL team Pampanga Royce Hotel.
“If I can just say that any coach that’s out there listening, you want a winner in your team? You wanna gather defense and shoot the ball, do whatever you say run [and] through brick walls for you? Love his teammates? Get BJ Andrade.”
Now, it’s back to the drawing board for the Blue Eagles.
Come next season, it will be a young team.
There are hopes that Credo regains his form after sitting out the past two seasons. Of course, if things turn out in their favor, Ateneo might also have the likes of Mason Amos, Francis Lopez, Kyle Gamber, Raffy Celiz, and Michael Asoro in one team.
But whatever happens, Baldwin will find a way to push those players to find their greatness not just for Ateneo but also their future in basketball.
