While Lyceum of the Philippines University has found success in the NCAA over the past decade, its sister school in Batangas has struggled to even notch wins in the UCAL.
It has yet to taste a finals appearance in its first five years in the league.
Something had to change.
Enter, JC Nuyles – a budding head coach who had to earn his way to go up the ranks.
Nuyles turned a 0-12 squad last year into a contender in just a span of a few months.
So how did he do it?
Well, it started with a plan… and the blueprint came from the Pirates of Intramuros.
(C) UCAL
“We consider ourselves fortunate to have Vice President Paolo Laurel actively participating in practices and games, serving as a hands-on leader,” said Nuyles.
“His management of the basketball program at LPU-Batangas reflects his valuable experience, having previously overseen the Men’s Basketball Team at LPU Manila.”
The first order of business was to find the right coach.
Nuyles, a product of Ateneo de Naga, knows a thing or two about building programs.
He previously worked in his alma mater’s athletics office before moving to Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu.
He then went to Manila to be part of the Ateneo Women’s Basketball Team’s coaching staff.
Then he met Aldin Ayo.
Ayo saw potential in him, tapping him as one of his staff members at University of Santo Tomas and Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3.
It was under Ayo that he learned the tricks of the trade.
“Since day one, the main goal for this season has been to improve upon last season’s winless record. Regardless of the result, our aim is to establish a winning culture that performs at a high level and demonstrates that we are now a different team,” he shared.
“At the beginning of the season, we sensed an opportunity, and the team began to believe that they could compete as long as they worked together. They did just that, seizing every chance and trusting each other, bringing us to where we are now.”
Even Nuyles was surprised with how the Pirates of Batangas improved on a daily basis.
The quartet of Kurt Laput, Bhencent Butuyan, David Jose, and Edward De Chavez turned from upstarts to leaders overnight.
Then there’s Alpha Bah, a 6-foot-5 foreign student-athlete who has dominated the competition so far.
Heading into the season, Nuyles had a simple goal, “one up” – just upstage last season’s winless campaign.
One up became two, then three, then more.
On Saturday, LPU-Batangas did what was thought improbable even by the school making it to the Final Four after soundly beating neighbor University of Batangas, 109-80.
(C) UCAL
“Thankful. That’s what I felt right after the game. Grateful because we have a management that supports us day in and day out, starting from when they took a chance on me to be the head coach of Lyceum-Batangas,” he said.
“Achieving the final four in our first year is not a one-man job. Our bosses, Sir Peter Laurel, our University President, VP Paolo Laurel, along with Mam Fe Medina, our sports director, and Coach Noli Ayo, provided us with the necessary assistance to prepare and turn things around with our basketball program this season. Special mention to the players for the dedication they put in during the preparation and for trusting me, also coaches Jason Misolas and Jay Axalan.”
Now that they have made it to the semifinals, Nuyles is shooting for the stars.
Up next is defending champion Centro Escolar University, ironically coached by former Lyceum-Manila deputy Jeff Perlas.
On the other bracket, Diliman and Olivarez will duke it out.
Who would have thought that LPU-Batangas would be on a list along with those storied schools in the UCAL?
Well, this is just the beginning, says Nuyles.
“While it may seem that everything unfolded rapidly this season, reaching the Final Four, we acknowledge that we have a long road ahead for ourselves and our basketball program,” he stressed.
“Together, we will continue to strengthen the development of the team as student-athletes, especially considering that most of them are second-year and first-year students. We will ensure that this achievement does not blind us to the long-term goal we have collectively planned — to be competitive in the coming years.”
