Letran bares candidates to replace Alas

MANILA, Philippines – A former Letran alumnus will succeed outgoing senior basketball coach Louie Alas on December 22.

Fr. Vic Calvo, OP, Letran's athletic director and NCAA Management Committee chair, today bared the six candidates, all alumni of the Muralla-based Pontifical school, who will most like succeed Alas, whose resignation will be official on Dec. 31.

"We'll name a coach out of this shortlist on Dec. 22," said Calvo.

The list included former mentor Larry Albano, who steered the then Samboy Lim-led Knights to an NCAA three-peat feat from 1982-84, former PBA coach Caloy Garcia and ex-University of Santo Tomas and Phl Basketball League mentor Nel Parado.

Other candidates are former Letran star Ronjay Enrile, the youngest applicant at 30 years old who served as one of Alas' assistants, fellow assistant coach Tino Pinat and current Letran high school coach Raymond Gavierres.

All applied for the job.

Calvo said they're still entertaining other applicants until Dec. 21 before making a final decision the day after.

"We're not limiting our candidates to a certain number, they can still apply until before Dec. 22," he said.

Calvo said they're looking for a coach who is not only a Letran alumnus but someone with coaching skills, popularity, leadership qualities, experience, good attitude and can command respect from players and peers.

"If he has these qualities, we will choose him," said Calvo.

Of the applicants, Albano is the most intriguing having engineered the Knights' upheaval in the early 80s when he helped the school win three straight championships that included a player named Lim, who later on carved his name in the pros as "The Skywalker."

Garcia, who played ball for the Squires before taking college at St. Benilde where he played briefly, is also a promising prospect having coached for Welcoat and later Rain or Shine in the pros, won the franchise a PBL championship, and was once mentor of St. Benilde in the NCAA.

Parado, for his part, has coached in the PBL and the UAAP with UST while Enrile, Pinat and Gavierres are all in-house prospects who are equally capable of handling the job that will be left vacant when Alas starts to focus on family and his assistant coaching job at Alaska Milk.

Interestingly, Letran is just one of the many schools with job vacancies like San Beda, St. Benilde, Mapua and San Sebastian.