After winning their first collegiate basketball title in 57 years in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) last year, the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors appeared to be heading back to the dark ages with yet another key cog voicing out his intent not return to the team this season.
In an exclusive talk with Cebu Daily News, veteran guard Ian Ortega shared that he most likely will not be returning to the squad that he helped win a championship last season.
“It just feels like management has forgotten all about the team,” said Ortega, who actually graduated on Saturday but still has one year of eligibility left. After donning the green and gold for all of a dozen years dating back to his time in elementary and high school, this development, he says, is a disappointing end to his playing career.
“I’m very disappointed with how all of this has played out. Who would have thought that after winning the Cesafi championship last year that this would happen?” said Ortega.
The pieces of the championship puzzle started falling apart as early as last year when the team’s head coach, the multi-titled Britt Reroma, took a leave of absence from the squad and eventually decided not to re-sign.
Recently, starting guard Kiefer Lim also stated that he would no longer be coming back to the team, which means that USC’s core now resembles that of a donut — as they also no longer have reigning league MVP Shooster Olago, Mythical Five forward Charles Pepito and skipper Nico Magat.
Adding insult to injury, Ortega divulged that he and the rest of his teammates have no longer been receiving their monthly allowance from the team’s bevy of backers since the year started.
A source within the team who asked to remain anonymous said that the school is still providing the players with their practice and game allowances, but the alumni have suddenly stopped giving.
“I have no clue why the backers have stopped giving. Maybe they have their personal reasons. They said that they will still support, but so far, since January, they have not given anything,” the source said.
With these developments, the source had tempered hopes for the team’s future campaigns. “That’s the sad part: from championship to back to the bottom in a flash. It might take another 57 years before we win a title again.”
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