Alas to stay on as Knights mentor?

MANILA, Philippines - After announcing last month this 88th NCAA season could be his last, Louie Alas may end up changing his mind.

Highly-placed sources from Letran said  the 49-year-old Alas is being lured back by top officials of the Muralla-based school hoping their long-time mentor could finish the job this time.

“Letran officials are convincing him to stay,” said a source yesterday referring to Alas, who steered the Knights a win closer from snaring a league-best 17th championship and ending a six-year title drought.

Alas, who said  he would quit the Knights after their painful Game Three defeat at the hands of the San Beda Lions in the 88th NCAA finale, neither confirmed nor denied the reports but hinted he will come up with an official statement any time now.

NCAA Management Committee chair Fr. Vic Calvo, OP, of host Letran said they’re also in a bind as they wait for the decision of the school on who will coach the Letran team that is competing in the Phl Collegiate Champions League this month.

“We have no basketball coach yet because we’re still waiting for a decision, which will come from the higher-ups,” said Calvo. “What we can do is to wait for their decision and see what happens.”

Alas’ decision came as a surprise as he is coming off a season when he rallied  Letran from the brink of early elimination to one of the most memorable comebacks in league history.

From 4-5 (win-loss) card, Alas helped the Knights win eight of  the next nine games to barge into the Final Four where they dismantled San Sebastian’s twice-to-beat advantage to gatecrash into the finals.

There, Letran lost Game One, won Game Two before getting smothered in the decider that crowned San Beda as the winningest team in the NCAA with 17 championships.

Alas has coached Letran for 12 seasons now, making it past the playoff round 10 times and winning the title thrice. Under his stewardship, Letran had gone 135-68 (win-loss) including 16-3 in the playoff phase.