Hapee, Ateneo come to terms on Eagles

After ironing out the kinks with Hapee, Ateneo finally allowed the core of its UAAP champion team to suit up for the Complete Protectors in the Philippine Basketball League which opens shop on Oct. 25.

Team manager Bernard Yang said yesterday that Hapee Toothpaste owner Cecilio Pedro was happy with the decision of Ateneo officials to allow their players to play for his team.

“Dr. Pedro told me that he had already talked to the management of Ateneo basketball team and its supporters and everything is now OK,” said Yang.

Pedro, a long-time Ateneo supporter, Yang and the coaching staff, headed by Gee Abanilla, were caught by surprise by the no-show of Ateneo players during the PBL Rookie Draft last Tuesday.

It was later learned that Ateneo decided to pull out the core of its team, led by UAAP MVP Rabeh Al-Hussaini, at the last minute due to conflict of academic schedule.

Yang, however, stressed that not all players earlier tipped to play for Hapee will be allowed by Ateneo since some of them will have to concentrate first on their studies to maintain their respective grades.

Expected to join Al-Hussaini in the team are Chris Tiu, Nonoy Baclao and Eric Salamat.

“We would be happy if Chris will join the team, but if he’s busy, we hope he could just join us later in the tournament,” said Yang.