Warriors will compete in Season 84

 

UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST WARRIORS

UAAP Season 82 (2019) record: 4-10 8^TH place after elimination round

Coach: JACK SANTIAGO (1st Season)

Subtractions: Rey Suerte Jed Mendoza

Decommitted: Alex Diahkite Chris Conner Kobe Camacho Richard Rodger

Holdovers: Jose Antiporda, Allan Beltran, Jeremy Cruz, Leon Lorenzana Harvey Pagsanhan, Abdul Sawat

Additions:

Transferees:  Nico Paranada (UPH),

Team B:  Orin Catacutan (St. Clare)

Rookies: Clint Escamis (MIT), Kyle Paranada (Montgomery HS - Filam), Jeremiah Soriano,  ,  JAN Piolo Cruz, Jerrick Villanueva, JM Tulabot, Justine Guevarra, Migs Pascual (SBU)

Reserves: Don Chan, Ryzel Abatayo

 

Background: The Warriors are coming off their best season since season 78 as they racked up four wins with ten losses and a seventh-place finish. Leading their charge in season 82 were two one and done players Rey Suerte and Jed Mendoza with a capable big man in Alex Diahkite. All was going well with the Red Warriors until Head Coach Joe Silva resigned a day before the tournament started. Bong Tan replaced Joe Silva and also got former UE coach Lawrence Chongson as his assistant.

Key changes: 

The Pandemic really took a lot of eligible players out of the UAAP and one of the biggest casualities is Senegalese Big man Alex Diakhite. Diakhite averaged 18 points, 14 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.5 blocks and is now playing in the Basketball Africa League- the professional league of Africa. In a way the warriors have an adequate crew with their holdovers in Jose Antiporda, Allan Beltran, Jeremy Cruz, Leon Lorenzana and Harvey Pagsanhan. Unfortunately, they quite bombed out in the recruitment field and just got two big names in Clint Escamis from MIT and Migs Pascual from San Beda. Joining the holdovers and rookies are Orin Catacutan and Nico Paranada whose brother Kyle is also there to lend a helping hand.

 

Outlook: 

This team will need more than a fighting heart to make it to the final four. They are only one of two teams without a foreign student athlete and are far smaller than the other established teams. Imagine them going against UP, DLSU and Ateneo and their huge and massive frontlines. The only thing going for them will be the pressure defense perfected by Coach Jack Santiago while he was Franz Pumaren’s deputy. The men from the East will have to shoot the lights out for them to secure a win. To make matters worse, rookie recruit Josiah Alcantara got injured and UE will just field a 19-man team.

 

Forecast:   

The future is not bright for the UE Red Warriors. Look for them to make a game every first half and eventually fizzle in the second half. There wont be any surprises this year and this team will probably end up last again for this year.

photos from UAAP Varsity Channel and UE Page