Letran back as king of NCAA hoops

Steering a team from a sixth-place finish to first in just one year is indeed quite remarkable. And even the man responsible for the big turnaround was downright surprised.

"Honestly, hindi ko ine-expect na ganito kabilis ang pagbabago namin," said Letran coach Louie Alas moments after guiding the Knights to a title-clinching 64-59 victory over the San Sebastian Stags in their winner-take-all match for the NCAA crown at the Astrodome last Wednesday.

In fact, when Alas took back the coaching reins two years ago after a stint in the pro ranks, he gave himself four years to transform the team from a rag-tag squad to a top title contender.

But with proper motivation, hardwork and management support, Alas and the Knights did the unthinkable, foiling the highly-fancied Stags’ three-peat bid and re-staking their claim as the league’s winningest team with 14 titles.

"Basically, hardwork, diligence, perseverance at ang ugali ng mga bata na matuto ng mga dahilan kung bakit kami andito ngayon," said Alas, who also led the Knights to the 1998 crown before he moved up to the defunct MBA and later to the PBA.

Leading Letran’s dramatic surge was Ronjay Enrile.

From a one-dimensional player, the former NCAA high school MVP played defense like he never did before and was more selective on his shots unlike before when he had the tendency to ballhog.

In the process, Enrile was able to bring out the best from the likes of Boyet Bautista, Aaron Aban, Frederick Rodriguez, Kris Reyes and rookie Jonathan Pinera.

"Ronjay’s maturity this season was just the key to our success," said Alas, named the league’s coach of the year.

Bautista, for one, has been taking the big shots, the biggest came with three minutes left in the season — a running jumper from 20 feet – that knotted the count at 58-all and, more importantly, broke the Knights’ alarming seven-minute silence in the fourth quarter. — Joey Villar