PCU’s Baculi chases first NCAA crown

A winner in his own right, Junel Baculi thirsts for one more championship he’ll be taking a shot at for the very first time.

"I really like to feel how it is to win a title in the NCAA as a coach," said Baculi, the new mentor of Philippine Christian University who has raked in a total of seven titles in the Philippine Basketball League.

One thing going for Baculi in his quest for glory in the NCAA cage wars unfolding this Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum is that he will be handling a team teeming with talent, including last year’s rookie MVP Gabby Espinas and fellow PBL veterans Rob Sanz, Jason Castro, Ian Garrido and Joel Solis.

"But I know it will be tough because all teams are strong and will all be going all out to stop our back-to-back (title) bid," added Baculi, who played for a champion Mapua squad in the early 90s.

However, Baculi will be up against a slew of coaches who boast of NCAA championships, particularly San Sebastian’s Arturo Valenzona, best remembered for steering the Stags to four straight titles in 1993-96.

Valenzona returned five years later to give the Recoletos-based school back-to-back titles in 2001-02.

There is also Perpetual Help’s Bai Cristobal, Valenzona’s former long-time assistant, who was credited for piloting San Sebastian to the 1997 championship that capped the Stags’ unprecedented five-peat feat.

Letran’s Louie Alas, for his part, won an NCAA crown in 1998 and followed it up by steering the Knights to victory in 2003.

"The field is a lot stronger this season but if we could just believe on ourselves, we’ll have a big chance of winning it all again," said Alas.

Unlike Valenzona, Cristobal and Alas, Jose Rizal’s Calilan has never won an NCAA title because his winnings came in the UAAP where he mentored the Ateneo Blue Eagles to the 1987 UAAP crown.

Youthful Nash Racela of San Beda and Caloy Garcia of St. Benilde have championship experiences too, same with Horacio Lim of Mapua.

Like Alas, Racela’s only title came in the MBA where he led the LBC Batangas Blades to the 2001 crown while Garcia got his in the PBL where he recently steered the Welcoat Paint Masters to the 2005 Unity Cup crown.