MANILA, Philippines - Norman Black will not only try to lead Ateneo to a rare four-feat in the UAAP but also seek to keep the Philippines domination of the Southeast Asia Games.
Black, named UAAP Coach of the Year award during the Collegiate Basketball Awards Monday night, will be the man at the helm of the Phl team hoping to defend its crown in the SEAG in Indonesia in November.
The former PBA Best Import, a former coach of the all-pro national squad in the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games, will invite 30 players for tryouts on Jan. 29 from where he will tap the members of the SEAG squad.
“We’re looking for new and young collegiate players to complete the team and we’re hoping to see if there are some new faces willing to play for the country,” said Black.
Before the SEAG task, Black will also try to steer Ateneo to its fourth straight UAAP championship when the league opens shop in July.
The Blue Eagles are expected to be beefed up by former University of the Visayas star and Smart Gilas Pilipinas standout Greg Slaughter and hopefully top prospect Kiefer Ravena.
San Beda coach Frankie Lim, who won the NCAA Coach of the Year for piloting the Red Lions to a historic 18-game sweep of the league’s 86th season, is also out to retain the crown for the Lions, hoping to elevate Baser Amer of the Red Cubs to his starting roster that includes Collegiate Mythical Five member Sudan Daniel and NCAA Pivotal Player Garvo Lanete.
“Our success last season was truly perfect,” said Lim. “We hope that we could keep our winning form with some new players to help our team.”
Other awardees were Far Eastern University’s RR Garcia and Ateneo’s Kirk Long (Collegiate Mythical Five), PBA rookie and San Beda’s Borgie Hermida (NCAA Super Senior), and Long’s teammate Eric Salamat (UAAP Super Senior).