Ateneo de Manila University head coach Tab Baldwin couldn’t hide his pride as one of his Blue Eagles received the ultimate recognition: a spot on the Gilas Pilipinas roster.
Following in the footsteps of Dwight Ramos, Ange Kouame, Isaac Go, the Nieto brothers, and Will Navarro, one-and-done forward Kymani Ladi earned inclusion in Norman Black’s initial 11-man lineup for the 2025 Southeast Asian Games.
Baldwin sees Ladi’s selection not just as a nod to the young forward’s talent but as a testament to the enduring system he has built at Ateneo—the very same program that once propelled him to the helm of the Philippine men’s national basketball team.
Beyond his breakout performance in the UAAP Season 88 Men’s Basketball Tournament, it is Baldwin’s system—designed to develop mature, versatile, and high-IQ athletes—that put Ladi squarely on the radar of Black and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
“Any person that’s involved in the sport gets the opportunity to represent their country, and I’ve been on the record for this for years — It’s the highest honor. And I’m very proud of him for being afforded that opportunity,” Baldwin said following Ateneo’s overtime loss to top-ranked National University last Saturday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
“I hope that he jumps at it, and I hope the rules don’t change that prevent him, but we’ll have to wait and see on that one.”
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
Ladi has been a cornerstone of Ateneo’s campaign, helping the Blue Eagles finish the first round with a 4-3 record—already matching their Season 87 win total of four victories over the entire 14-game elimination round.
The 6-foot-8 forward, who hails from Merritt College, averaged 15.86 points, 8.14 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.57 blocks across seven games, proving he is ready to compete on the international stage when Gilas Pilipinas defends its SEA Games title this December in Thailand.
“I feel pretty certain that he’ll be excited to put on the Gilas colors and walk out on the court and represent his country, and we’ll all be very proud of him if he gets that opportunity,” Baldwin said.
“I know the kid now, and I have no doubt that he’ll be very honored. He’s just that kind of kid.”
But before Ladi can suit up alongside Gilas standouts like Justin Brownlee, Ray Parks, and former Blue Eagle Ange Kouame, Baldwin emphasized that Ateneo must elevate its intensity for the second round—especially after dropping three straight games to close the first half of the season.
Given that the Blue Eagles’ roster was finalized only two months before the season, Baldwin takes pride in how quickly the team found its rhythm and competed toe-to-toe with top programs like defending champion University of the Philippines, National University, University of Santo Tomas, and De La Salle University.
Yet the real challenge lies ahead: surpassing the peak they have reached so far, a crucial step if Ateneo hopes to reclaim the UAAP men’s basketball crown for the first time since Season 85 in 2022.
“At 4-3 at the end of the first round, we got to be pretty happy. We’re not happy we lost three in a row, but we lost two really class teams, two teams that were top of the league when we played them and took both of them to overtime, so I feel good about the quality of our team and our ability to compete at the top level,” he said.
“Having brought, I don’t know, maybe five or six of our roster in around June, I never felt like we would be peaking at this point of the season, so there’s better to come, and we’ll need it, because I think the other teams will get better as well.”
