SOURCES: TNT to tap Tab Baldwin’s protege as consultant

After Nash Racela asked for a “leave of absence” from the team last week, the TNT Katropa, the crown jewel of the MVP Group, are set to load up its coaching staff.

TNT will hire the services of former New Zealand Tall Blacks standout Mark Dickel as the team’s consultant, multiple sources closely monitoring the situation have told Tiebreaker Times.

However, the team is still looking for a head coach as Dickel, a foreigner, will not be allowed to have the job description of the team’s lead tactician due to rules by imposed by the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines.

Dickel arrived in the country last Saturday. He was at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday to watch Baldwin’s Ateneo Blue Eagles face the Adamson Soaring Falcons.

Dickel, who is just 41 years young, previously handled the Albanian Men’s National Basketball Team back in 2010-11. In 2015, he was tapped as the head coach of NBL club Canterbury Rams.

The 6-foot-2 floor general, fondly called as Sparky, played for Baldwin during the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics.

He attended college in the US, playing for the UNLV Rebels.

As of Tuesday, Eric Gonzales is still serving as the team’s interim head coach.