UAAP-NC top cagers, coaches feted tonight

MANILA, Philippines - The UAAP-NCAA Press Corps fetes oustanding players from the collegiate leagues tonight in the Collegiate Basketball Awards at the Topaz 1 of the Gateway Suites in Cubao, Quezon City.

Ateneo’s Norman Black and San Beda’s Frankie Lim, the UAAP Coach of the Year and the NCAA Coach of the Year, respectively, head the list of awardees in elaborate rites presented by the UAAP-NCAA Press Corps and Smart.

Black and Lim won the nod from a group of sportswriters from various broadsheets and tabloids covering the collegiate basketball beat for leading their respective squads to the championship.

B-Meg Derby Ace star Rommel Adducul, a cancer survivor, will give an inspirational talk in the 7 p.m. affair backed by Accel, 316, FilOil, Terrilicious, Gatorade, San Miguel Corp. and the Philippine Sportswriters Association.

RR Garcia of Far Eastern University and Sudan Daniel of San Beda, the Most Valuable Players in their respective leagues, lead the Collegiate Mythical Five, a distinction given to the five best players of the last collegiate season.

Joining Garcia and Daniel in the elite team are Ateneo’s Kirk Long, FEU’s Aldrech Ramos and San Sebastian’s Calvin Abueva.

Erik Salamat of Ateneo and Borgie Hermida of San Beda, meanwhile, will be awarded the Super Senior award which goes to the players who excelled in their final year of eligibility in the collegiate leagues.

San Beda’s Garvo Lanete and Ateneo’s Ryan Buenafe will receive their Pivotal Player awards given to the players who made valuable contributions on their team’s championship run.

High school standouts Kiefer Ravena of Ateneo and Baser Amer of San Beda will take the Juniors Player of the Year plums.

Meanwhile, the joint press corps group will also give posthumous citation to Abante photojournalist John Paulino and will pay tribute to Cayetano “Tanny” Gonzales, a former UAAP and NCAA deputy commissioner, and web writer and photographer Quincy Reyes.