Even if their lone season comes to an end earlier than expected, one-and-done players of the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles — Kymani Ladi and Dom Escobar — remained grateful to be part of the BEBOB family.
Starting the season hot with a four-game winning streak, the Blue Eagles suffered losing streaks that made them miss the final four for the second straight season. Despite not achieving their goal, Escobar and Ladi will surely bring the knowledge they learned in the Philippines when they go back home.
Escobar said, “Coach Tab questioned me every day and really tested me mentally. He really gets into our heads and asks deeper questions about basketball. I really appreciate him for that. I feel like he’s expanded my knowledge on the game, and I can truly say that coming out of this program, I’ve become a better basketball player than I was when I first arrived.”
“I’m just extremely grateful for the opportunity we had here. I would love to be an advocate for any Fil-Ams back home who are unsure about Philippine basketball.”
For Ladi, one of the greatest things that he got for playing for Ateneo was being part of the BEBOB family, an acronym for Blue Eagles Band of Brothers, which became the team’s rallying cry despite the ups and downs.
“I really started to understand what Ateneo was all about – especially attending classes and seeing what the BEBOB culture truly meant. Growing up, I wasn’t really part of a collective team. Being here, seeing players from previous years support each other, it really showed me the community aspect and how the team stands by you even in your worst times,” Ladi said.
Apparently, the praises were not one-sided, as Baldwin also gave his own praise to the duo.
He said, “These two are going to be outstanding pros, not just because they’re skilled basketball players, but because they are the kind of men you want in your huddle and in your home. They’re true competitors, quality people who enhance the lives of those around them.”
“I’m here to testify that these guys have enhanced not just our team and the Ateneo community, but my life personally, because of their character and personalities. Any professional team would be lucky to have them – they’ll improve your environment, elevate your talent, and make coaching easier from the day they arrive.”
Potentially starting a trend of recruiting one-and-dones from abroad, Baldwin admitted that they will still continue to do it in the next few seasons. One thing he will never do is to poach players who are already playing for other teams.
“We’re gonna recruit to needs, and our recruiting will be across the gamut of all potential recruiting scenarios. So will we pursue players that are one-and-done? Yes, if we think they’re the right character and if we think there’s a need in the team for that, absolutely,” he said.
“Are we excited about the prospect of recruiting young freshmen incoming players that we believe are going to contribute over the long term? Absolutely.
“Are we in the market for a transfer? Why not, if the player could be a good Atenean, and if the player is the type of person and student who believes they would be better off in Ateneo?
“Will I pursue transfers? Never. You can put that in capital letters. But if somebody comes knocking on my door, we will look at their situation in terms of the welfare for that player and the welfare for our programs. There are probably other scenarios.
“Will we recruit Fil-Foreign players? Sure, we will. So our team will continue to be, you know, a potpourri of players that come out of various recruiting scenarios.”
Now that another season has come to a close, Baldwin admitted that he will miss his players, but he will continue his mission to develop and deliver another championship for Ateneo.
“It’s always tough to part with your graduating players, but I just have so much respect for these guys, and I’m gonna miss them, we’re going to miss them. But we have to move forward, and the looking-ahead part is for our returning players and the lessons of this season – a very difficult season, a year that had a lot of rewards and a season that had a lot of extremely difficult moments.
“As a coach, when you preach performance and not results, I can honestly say that we had performances that genuinely should have given us results, and for whatever reason they didn’t – certainly partly us, sometimes not – and that’s very frustrating. But that season is done now, and the lessons that we have to face, we will face them with the fierce determination that we grow and improve from those lessons,” he ended.
