MANILA, Philippines – In 2019, the UST Growling Tigers enjoyed the view near the top of the UAAP men’s basketball world.

Following a Season 82 runner-up finish to the dynastic Ateneo Blue Eagles, the loaded Tigers were hungry for more, for another crack at ending a title drought extending since 2006.

While the life-changing pandemic a few months later derailed every team’s plans and doused their fire, former UST coach Aldin Ayo still flew too close to the sun and conducted a secret Sorsogon training bubble at the height of strict lockdowns and other health protocols.

It set off a massive chain reaction of events that got him banned from the UAAP and triggered a mass exodus of players, most of whom became champions on other teams like UP’s CJ Cansino, and Letran’s Rhenz Abando and Brent Paraiso.

Five long years passed, and after three struggling seasons, two coaching changes, and 36 losses, the Tigers are finally back in the Final Four, settling in as the third seed with a 7-7 record and locking up a semifinal clash against the team it beat twice in a row for the finals back in 2019: the UP Fighting Maroons.

While seven wins against the same number of losses doesn’t look that impressive on paper, they were more than UST’s combined win total in those three losing seasons, and that fact in itself is a testament to how low the program sank, and how high it rose back up in a year’s span.

Repaying trust, rolling the dice

Many may point to the arrival of 2006 champion head coach Pido Jarencio as the key in rediscovering the Tigers’ winning ways, but as Jarencio himself would repeatedly point out, all credit goes to his other coaches and key players, namely Nic Cabañero, Mo Tounkara, and Forthsky Padrigao.

As players came and went amid stirring tides, doubts, and vanquished dreams, it was Cabañero who stayed firm, enduring each one of those 36 losses before his efforts are finally set to be repaid this season with not only a Final Four berth, but a breakthrough Mythical Five honor.

Tounkara, meanwhile, was a late roll of the dice as UST took long, hard looks at him and Peter Osang, before team management hit the jackpot on a lanky, sweet-shooting big man set to finish in the top 10 of the MVP race.

Last but not the least, Padrigao’s arrival, with many raised eyebrows to boot, arguably completed the UST puzzle, as the Tigers took another chance in a controversial figure with an MVP-caliber game, and came away as winners anew.

Where to, UST?

So, here it is, the newest iteration of the UST Growling Tigers, a team standing at a crossroads with an even mix of veterans and new guns carrying a 7-7 record — neither a true winner nor loser.

Come Saturday, November 30, they take the next step. Whether they take a leap forward or one back, they’ve already defeated their past woes — escaping another bubble, if you will. – Rappler.com