UST formally welcomed new Tigers head coach Aldin Ayo on Wednesday, ending a month-long chase for former coach Boy Sablan’s replacement.
According to a statement released on the University’s official Faceboook page, Ayo was chosen as the new chief tactician due to his discipline-based basketball program and his accomplishments as head coach.
“[His program] gives primary importance to the academic life of the student-athletes, believing that athletes who are hardworking in their studies are likewise able to handle themselves on and off the court,” the statement read.
Ayo led the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights to the NCAA championship in 2015, before winning the UAAP crown the following year with the De La Salle University Green Archers.
Ayo, also a product of a Dominican institution, was a player of the Letran teams that won back-to-back crowns in 1998 and 1999.
“[Ayo’s] basketball program supports the image we in UST wish to draw in the canvass of our student-athletes,” the announcement said.
Last Jan. 6, Ayo confirmed to the Varsitarian that he will be the next head coach.
He will inherit a team that has mustered only four wins in 28 games in the last two years.
Other reported candidates for the post were former Growling Tiger Bal David, former Letran assistant coach Nap Garcia and former Lyceum of the Philippines University head coach Bonnie Tan.
Pido Jarencio, who steered the Tigers to their last championship in 2006, also expressed interest for a possible return.
