HUGE SHOES TO FILL

New Baby Lancers head coach excited to take over, wants to unite UV basketball

With long-time University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers head coach Delfin “Jun” Pepito being elevated as head of basketball operations for UV’s basketball programs, newly-named juniors team head coach Abel Bongcaras acknowledged that the task ahead won’t be easy.

Nevertheless, he expressed excitement at tackling the challenge put before him by team manager, Cebu First District representative Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas.

“I’m excited. I’ve worked 11 years under Coach (Jun) Pepito. But only after the CVIRAA tournament will I assume the position. For now, Coach Pepito will still lead the team because these are his players,” Bongcaras, a full-blooded Visayanian who started his career as a player for the juniors team back in 1995, said.  “Afterwards, I’ll start a new team.”

System-wise, Bongcaras divulged that though there will be changes, these will mostly be minimal.

“There are going to be little changes. We’ve seen how our team played this year, we’ve seen what it lacked. So we will try our best to improve our weaknesses,” said the broad-shouldered cager-turned-mentor.

Furthermore, Bongcaras expressed his optimism with the coaching landscape of UV basketball, one that has become fragmented in recent years.

“I hope that the unity in UV basketball, between the players, coaches, and everyone involved will improve. That’s what we will work hard on. These past few years, we felt that the UV teams weren’t united. If the juniors team had a game, no other UV team would watch. This wasn’t the case before. I think we lost communication. But we had a meeting about this and hopefully, it will improve,” said Bongcaras,

Gullas also sounded comfortable with the recent decisions and changes that he has implemented.

“We’ll see what he can do when he has the reins of the team. He’s untested as a head coach but he’s been under the tutelage of Pepito for so long already. So we’ll see how it goes.”