By: Joaquin Cortez
During NCAA Season 101, questions swirled over whether it would be the last time San Beda University would remain in the Grand Old League.
After all, San Beda has cemented itself as the most decorated university in NCAA history.
The league’s lone remaining founding member has stayed for another season. But if San Beda chairman Manny V. Pangilinan is asked, he is not closing the door on a potential move to the UAAP.
“Tapusin na muna natin itong season na ito, and then we’ll talk about UAAP and San Beda,” said the MediaQuest Holdings chairman, who served as guest of honor during the NCAA Season 102 Opening Ceremony on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
For now, however, San Beda has its hands full with its title defense.
The Red Lions enter the new campaign facing a major challenge after losing much of their championship core, including Yukien Andrada, Joe Celso, and Bryan Sajonia, who have all moved on to the PBA.
San Beda will also be without Nygel Gonzales for the entirety of Season 102 after he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the offseason.
“San Beda lost several key players, and most of them went to the PBA … mukha namang okay sila but relative to others,” Pangilinan told Tiebreaker Times.
The Red Lions will also have to contend with a competitive field led by traditional rival Letran, modern-day rival De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, and a much-improved Jose Rizal University.
One of the NCAA’s eight founding teams in 1924, San Beda enters Season 102 as this year’s host and the league’s winningest basketball program, having captured its 24th championship and second title in the last three seasons.
But despite the Red Lions’ recent success, Pangilinan expects no easy path to another championship.
“Sabi ni Pato Gregorio, malakas ang JRU. So siguro, when I saw the team, very big. Letran would be probably strong, ‘yong iba ‘di ko na alam. Benilde, of course, traditionally strong,” Pangilinan said.
“So there are the strengths of the league.”
And while San Beda’s future beyond Season 102 remains a question for another day, Pangilinan made it clear that the Red Lions’ immediate concern is the challenge in front of them: defending their crown in a league that continues to grow more competitive with every season.
