All Jarencio wanted was to repay UST

When Alfredo (Pido) Jarencio was invited to coach the University of Santo Tomas (UST) senior men’s basketball team early this year, he accepted because he wanted to repay the school that made him a star.

Jarencio, 42, had no coaching experience, except in one-week barangay leagues. But he was determined to make a difference. The Growling Tigers hadn’t won a University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) title since 1996 and were coming off a dismal 4-10 season.

The idea of coaching entered Jarencio’s mind in 2003 when he accompanied his daughter to enroll at UST. Institute of Physical Education and Athletics director Fr. Ermito de Sagon bumped into Jarencio on campus and asked if he’d be interested to coach the Tigers.

Jarencio sent in his application but later dropped out of the race to run for councilor in Manila’s third district in the 2004 elections. Nel Parado got the job and Jarencio ended up losing in the polls – the top six vote-getters became councilors and he finished eighth.

Late last year, Jarencio was contacted by Gina Francisco, whose mother Felicitas is UST’s athletic director, to check on his availability to coach. Gina was the UST senior women’s team captain when Jarencio was the men’s skipper so they go back many years. Gina’s brother Gerard plays in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) where Jarencio toiled for 16 seasons. Gina referred Jarencio to UST athletic moderator Mike Silbor who arranged an interview with Fr. de Sagon.

Silbor and Fr. de Sagon took turns grilling Jarencio until they decided he was the right man for the job. With Fr. de Sagon and Silbor agreeing to welcome Jarencio on board, the deal was sealed.

"We never talked about a salary," recalled Jarencio. "Fr. de Sagon promised to give me a free hand to choose my staff and the players. I told myself this would be a good chance to find out if I’m cut out for coaching."

Jarencio didn’t report for work until March as Parado’s contract expired last Feb. 15. Jarencio signed a one-year pact with the understanding he would be given three years to rebuild the UST program.

After retiring from the PBA in 2001, Jarencio joined the San Miguel All-Stars touring team that plays goodwill games all over the country. He also sold a self-assembled emergency rescue kit to barangays and municipalities. Jarencio made sure the work in UST wouldn’t conflict with his commitments to San Miguel and marketing the rescue kit.

Jarencio chose UST alumni to make up his staff – Beaujing Acot for defense, Senen Duenas for offense, Boy Sablan for players’ academics, Manny Calipes for agility and conditioning, Edwin Escobar for weight training, Rabbi Tomacruz for liaison and Dr. Raul Palma as team psychologist. Clarence Aytona later came in as team manager.

Then he gathered the UST players in a tryout pool of up to 20 players.

For three months, the players went through a grueling grind. Aside from basketball drills, there was daily weight training.

"I’m very lucky because the players are all intelligent," said Jarencio. "And they respect me. When I get angry at practice, it’s for a reason and the players learn from their mistakes. I teach them how to do things right. I teach them to stay cool so they don’t panic during games. I treat the players like my barkada off the court but during a game, we’re all serious and we’re all focused. It’s all about gaining their respect and motivating them to be disciplined, to play hard and to never say die."

Jarencio said he’s more a defensive than an offensive coach.

"I was an offensive player and I know the first thing a player learns is how to shoot," said Jarencio. "It’s not a problem for players to score. But defense takes sacrifice. As a coach, I try to concentrate on defense because while offense wins games, it’s defense that wins championships."

A few months before the UAAP season began, incoming sophomore cager John Apil died. It was a painful loss. Apil was at the Solana resort in Tuguegarao with his girlfriend’s family when he tried to save two kids from drowning in a swimming pool. Apil managed to rescue the kids but in the process, held on to an electric post for at least seven minutes immersed in water and was electrocuted to death.

Apil turned out to be the Tigers’ guardian angel this season.

Jarencio said he knew from the start, the Tigers were special but didn’t want to let on. He fielded Team B players in preseason games to throw off opposing scouts.

As the season progressed, the team was hit by bad luck. Veteran Jemal Vizcarra was injured and lost for the year after just a game. Typhoid struck down one player after another as UST got off to a lowly 2-5 start.

"Nobody believed we could win a championship so there was no pressure on us," said Jarencio. "I kidded around to loosen up my players when they got nervous. Once, I noticed one of my players was so nervous that I took him