Rookie coach (plus Black) to chart Eagles flight

While youthful Sandy Arespacochaga will call the shots, there’ll be a very familiar figure who’ll work behind the Ateneo bench for the 67th UAAP season.

He’s Norman Black.

The original "Mr. 100 Percent" of the Philippine Basketball Association, Black was tapped during the off-season to whip up the Blue Eagles and make sure that they’ll give more than a hundred percent each game.

Sources at Ateneo said Black, one of the winningest coaches in the PBA, has been so effective during summer that he’s made the Blue Eagles work so hard as if they’re preparing for a tournament even bigger than the UAAP.

Now the school’s basketball development consultant, Black has shared with the Blue Eagles and Arespacochaga practically everything he’s learned during his colorful PBA career that lasted more than a decade.

And from this, the Blue Eagles hope to emerge victorious in the new season that unfolds tomorrow at the Araneta Coliseum. Ateneo plays its first game on Sunday against no less than La Salle.

Arespacochaga, who played for Ateneo until 1998, is only 29. And to take over the coaching chores from Joel Banal, he said, is one of the many challenges he’s willing to face and hurdle this year.

"There’s pressure and that’s to be expected I guess especially since we’ve been in the finals over the last few years," he told The STAR during the league’s official launch last Monday.

"But it goes with the territory," he added, this time referring to the fact that the Blue Eagles, for the last five years, have been under two great, talented and battle-scarred coaches–Joe Lipa and Banal.

It was under Banal’s watch that the Blue Eagles emerged champions in 2002, ending 14 years of frustration. But it was under Lipa that the team really developed into a fighting unit.

"After finishing my studies, I worked straight as an assistant coach. And this was in 1998. So, I’ve been here a long time. But Joe Lipa and Joel Banal are big shoes to fill," he admitted.

Aside from Black, out to help Arespacochaga fill in those shoes are veterans LA Tenorio, Larry Fonacier, Magnum Membrere and Paolo Bugia. They will carry the torch in the absence of Rich Alvarez and Wesley Gonzales who’ve moved on to the PBA.

The Blue Eagles defeated the Green Archers for the 2002 title. But they lost to the FEU Tamaraws in last year’s finals after spending almost all their energy beating La Salle in a classic, boisterous Final Four showdown.

Arespacochaga said he’s hoping for a bigger Ateneo-La Salle showdown this year, starting with Sunday’s encounter.

"Hopefully. Masaya kasi when it’s Ateneo vs La Salle. So it would be a nice opportunity if we meet more than two times," he said.

For that to happen, the Blue Eagles must get to the Final Four and possibly join other teams like Adamson and Far Eastern University, the defending champion.

"We know that there are stronger teams like FEU and La Salle or even Adamson so our target is just to get to the Final Four. Hopefully, we’ll be the fourth team there," he said.

After winding up Ateneo’s summer drills, Black left for the United States, but will be back soon. Some people say he’ll spell the difference in Ateneo’s campaign this year.

But still, it’s Arespacochaga, young as he is, who holds the key.