Tagged as just a dark horse during the offseason leading to the UAAP Season 88 Boys’ Basketball Tournament, Ateneo de Manila University has quickly outgrown the label.
Five games in, the Blue Eagles remain unbeaten — with four of those wins coming against perennial contenders in the eight-team field — and Noah Banal wants the rest of the league to take notice.
After toppling other heavyweights such as National University Nazareth School, Far Eastern University-Diliman, and the University of the East, Ateneo delivered its loudest statement yet on Sunday, January 25, at the Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.
Fueled by a dominant fourth-quarter performance led by Banal, Nigerian center Jude Eriobu, and second-generation cager Ziv Espinas, the Blue Eagles handed defending champions University of Santo Tomas Tiger Cubs a 100-88 defeat to remain perfect through five games.
For Banal, this blazing start is a resume that speaks for itself.
Beyond stacking wins to strengthen their Final Four aspirations, the transferee guard from Malayan Science High School — grandson of champion coach Joel Banal and nephew of former PBA players Gab and Ael — made it clear that Ateneo’s 5-0 record is no fluke: the Blue Eagles are legitimate contenders, not just early-season darlings.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
“We already beat the teams that we were watching out for — NUNS, FEU-D, UST, and UE — we were looking out for those guys the most,” the 6-foot-2 guard said after contributing 25 points, three assists, two steals, and two rebounds. “This strong start is just a statement that we are here and other guys and teams should never underestimate us.
“It’s a good feeling because the environment was really good. All the supporters there, all the fans, really just came out to support us, kept our energy going even though we were down in the game. It was a good win.”
While Banal quickly embraced the spotlight, new head coach Bacon Austria urged the Blue Eagles to stay grounded, even with Adamson University Baby Falcons and University of the Philippines Integrated School Fighting Maroons — sitting in sixth and eighth place, respectively — standing in the way of a first-round sweep.
For the son of 10-time PBA champion coach Leo and brother of UST women’s basketball assistant Ged, Austria wants Ateneo to maintain a hunter’s mentality rather than one of a team now being hunted.
“I know everyone’s excited, pero malayo pa. I think we had a good start. I told everyone last Thursday that getting to the top is hard, but staying on the top is harder. It’s a place where everyone is looking at you, everyone wants to go after you,” Austria said.
“Pero we’re gonna treat this like we are not number one. I think that the mentality you should have, which is hard to do, is to have mentality that you’re still on the bottom, and you still wanna go up. Because once you relax, once you put in your heads that we’re good already, then everyone’s gonna catch up.”
Banal assured Austria that his message has resonated, saying that inside the Blue Eagles’ locker room, the focus remains on staying grounded while embracing confidence — without letting complacency set in.
The 18-year-old guard added that Ateneo’s early success has done little to satisfy their collective hunger for reclaiming the UAAP boys’ basketball crown for the first time since Season 80 (2018). If anything, it has only intensified their drive.
“I think everyone’s mentality, and I don’t even need to say this even as one of the team’s leaders, but everyone’s mentality is just treat every game as a championship game, but always have the feeling that we can do it and win it all,” Banal said.
“We should always look at it like we’re at the bottom so that we can go higher and improve further.”
