Four Ateneo aces to beef up Dazz cast

The future looks bright for Dazz Dishwashing Liquid in the Philippine Basketball League.

This after the Grease Busters, eager to bounce back from a humiliating three-game sweep at the hands of the Welcoat Paint Masters in last month’s Challenge Cup finals, are close to acquiring talented players from reigning UAAP champion Ateneo.

Ateneo team manager Simon Mossesgeld said that Rich Alvarez, Wesley Gonzales, LA Tenorio and Larry Fonacier, vital cogs in the Eagles’ title romp last season, are set to sign with Dazz anytime this week.

"We want to give our players the needed exposure in the PBL before we embark on our quest for a second straight UAAP title," Mossesgeld told The STAR.

Ateneo initially wanted to form a different team exclusively for the Eagles in time for the season-opening first conference tentatively scheduled on March 22, but things did not work out as planned.

Based on league rules, Lamoiyan Corp. owns the rights of Ateneo players since it was the Cecilio Pedro’s group which bankrolled the Eagles’ successful campaign in last year’s Chairman’s Cup through its other brand, Hapee Toothpaste.

"We were exploring that possibility but things did not work out that way," said Mossesgeld. "Under PBL rules, Lamoiyan has the right of first refusal on Ateneo since it was the same company that sponsored us in our last stint in the PBL."

Dazz team manager Bernard Yang, for his part, has been communicating with Ateneo and is expecting Alvarez, Gonzales, Tenorio and Fonacier to formally agree to join the team by next week.

"We’re still talking with them about getting some of their players to join us and I’m optimistic we’ll be getting the players we want," said Yang.

Yang also said Dazz might also keep the services of the talented Cyrus Baguio, this year’s PBA 14th overall rookie draft pick who has yet to sign up a contract with Batang Red Bull.

"He might just end up with the team because I heard he has yet to get a contract with Red Bull," said Yang referring to Baguio, whose contract with Lamoiyan ends in April.

Aside from the four possible additions and Baguio, Dazz has also retained Jun Peter Simon, Alwyn Espiritu, Francis Mercado, Eugene Tan, Joel Dualan, Allan Salangsang, Ryan Dy and Mark Saquilayan, making it the team to watch in the coming conference.