The 2020 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team was scheduled to represent the University of Santo Tomas in the 83rd season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, but then the COVID-19 pandemic struck and it affected all sporting events worldwide. The rest of the UAAP tournaments in the second semester of Season 82 were discontinued and eventually terminated in April 2020. A belated opening of Season 83 was planned for January 2021, but the UAAP board eventually decided on cancelling the entire season amid the continued community quarantine measures that would affect the athletes' training and social gathering in general. This was the first time since World War II that an entire season is cancelled by the league.
The Tigers were participating in the 2020 PBA D-League Aspirants' Cup as part of their preseason training and had already played two games before its indefinite suspension on March 11. The league formally announced the cancellation of the tournament in September.
Preseason roster There were three graduating players from the 2019 UST Growling Tigers roster. Point guard Renzo Subido was drafted into the PBA in December 2019, while center Enrique Caunan who saw limited minutes in the concluded UAAP season had been left out. Only Zach Huang remained in the 15-man lineup that competed in the PBA D-League tournament.
Three other Season 82 mainstays, Miguel Pangilinan, Albert Bordeos, and Nat Cosejo were excluded from the preseason roster. Taking over their spots were Team B members Paul Manalang, Ian Herrera, and Christian Manaytay. A fourth player, Jorden Santos came all the way from Virginia.
Depth chart
Schedule and results
The PBA D-League games were aired on 5 Plus and ESPN 5.
Summary The D-League Aspirants' Cup tournament was set to begin on February 13, 2020, but the organizers decided on pushing it back to March 2 following safety protocols imposed by the government in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Coming off a runner-up finish in the just-concluded UAAP basketball tournament, the Growling Tigers had aimed to build on that momentum with a strong showing in the said tournament. They defeated their opponents by an average margin of 33 points before the league went on another break due to rising cases of COVID-19 infections.
TIP Engineers UST had a 53-point blowout in their 115–62 win over the Technological Institute of the Philippines. Their 23 three-point shot conversions surpassed their record of 16 in the UAAP. Deo Cuajao contributed 7 of those threes to topscore for the team with 24 points. Junjun Asuncion continued the attack in the fourth quarter by shooting 5 more threes to finish the game with 20 points. The Tigers opened the game on a 20–5 run which ended on a 30–16 first quarter score. Their lead had ballooned to 29 points at the end of the third quarter.
Diliman College Blue Dragons The Growling Tigers had another quick start in their game against Diliman College by racing to a 16–5 lead. They had poured on the points to end the first quarter with a score of 37–18. UST went on to lead the Blue Dragons by at least 30 points numerous times in the game before their starters were called back to the bench. They were outscored, 14–29 in the fourth quarter as Diliman managed to narrow down the lead to only 13 points at the end of the game. Soulémane Chabi Yo topscored for 24 points and was aided by Dave Ando's double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.
With Coach Aldin Ayo stressing the need for the players to familiarize themselves with his coaching system, the Growling Tigers displayed their three-point shooting efficiency in different scenarios. In their game against TIP, the team went on a high 50 field goal percentage when they made 23 of their 46 three-point shot attempts.
In their two games, they averaged a 57-percent accuracy on spot-up threes, 52 percent of which were from contested shots and an even higher 62 percent on uncontested attempts. The players also converted a respectable 37 percent of three-point attempts when moving from picks or evading a defender. In more difficult cases of Pull-up jumpers from beyond the arc, they had been successful twice in their eight attempts for a 25-percent clip.
Sorsogon bubble CJ Cansino's departure from the team signified the start of the Growling Tigers' saga in 2020 as allegations of multiple violations of quarantine protocols and insufficient living, dietary and health conditions caused player transfers, suspension and resignation of the team's top officials, and eventually the involvement of government bodies to step in and join the investigations on the said allegations.
Sequence of events August 20 On August 20, 2020, The Varsitarian through their official Twitter account broke the news of Cansino's departure from the Growling Tigers' roster. In the tweet, the school's student publication had mentioned that both the player and management had reached an agreement to "part ways."
August 21 Cansino in an interview disputed The Varsitarian's report on the two parties' agreement, claiming that he was removed even though he did not want to leave. An ABS-CBN Sports article reported that Cansino's removal was due to his "defiance of authority," where sources close to the team elaborated on how he approached the coaching staff on behalf of the team to relay their desire to go back to their respective homes. The cause of his removal was not clarified in the article, but it added that he was initially removed as team captain before the eviction from the roster.
UP Fighting Maroons coach Bo Perasol later announced that Cansino has committed to their team. Throughout the events that were unfolding, social media went abuzz on speculations of the existence of a "Bicol Bubble," a term coined by sports writers in reference to the NBA Bubble, when the American league resumed their 2019–20 season by bringing together the players, coaches and personnel of the teams in one single place. Members of the Growling Tigers were allegedly quartered to conduct training activities. Sorsogon, located in the Bicol region is the home province of Aldin Ayo.
August 22 The media spectacle began reaching the attention of government agencies with the Games and Amusements Board announcing that they will begin investigating the incident over possible quarantine violations. A video surfaced around social media outlets showing members of the team conducting shooting practices. A number of commenters pointed out that the location was in Capuy, Sorsogon and that the team had been staying there since the middle of June.
August 23 The Philippine Star's Abac Cordero posted on his Twitter account a photographed document, appearing to be a copy of a waiver by the players' parent or guardian that allows them their participation in the bubble. The document was addressed to the school's athletic director, Fr. Jannel Abogado.
Coach Aldin Ayo finally issued a statement on the issue, saying "marked differences" between him and Cansino had caused the player's exit. The statement added that Ayo had chosen to refrain from making additional comments as the school had already begun their own investigation, though he was giving his assurance to fully cooperate with the inquiries by UST and the government agencies.
August 25 The Varsitarian reported Abogado's resignation just before a scheduled meeting of school officials with the government's Inter-Agency Task Force that would discuss the team's alleged quarantine guideline violations. He was replaced by former director of UST's Institute of Physical Eduacation and Athletics, Fr. Ermito de Sagon who was set to sit on an interim capacity.
August 26 UST has ordered a stoppage of the team's training in Sorsogon. Ayo gathered the players to inform them of the school's directive to send them home, pending the completion of travel documents and other government clearance requirements.
In a now-deleted social media post, Cansino shared six screenshot images from a Facebook group chat among the players and their parents regarding complaints about their living conditions in Sorsogon. In the thread, Cansino had relayed that the food being served to them was not to his preference, adding some of his teammates have resorted to ordering fast food instead. Soulémane Chabi Yo complained of experiencing homesickness and poor mobile phone signal, while Rhenz Abando said that no one from the staff was tending to the players who have become sick during their stay there.
August 27 The Commission on Higher Education has joined the investigation and announced that it was looking into UST officials' involvement and accountability in the team's "bubble" training. The CHED was tapped to join the tripartite of the Philippine Sports Commission, the GAB, and the Department of Health under the Joint Administrative Order, as the said JAO only covers professional sports teams.
August 31 The UAAP board presented UST's investigation result and recommendations to the JAO and CHED. They were looking into which government agency had the authority to mete out sanctions on the school for their violation of the government's health protocols. The JAO earlier gave UST their permission to conduct their own investigation on the team's training bubble. UST submitted their internal report to the board on August 28.
September 4 Aldin Ayo has stepped down from his position as head coach of the Growling Tigers' senior men's basketball team. In his resignation letter, he extended his apologies to the people affected by condemnations thrown at the team as a result of the "Bubble" issue and reiterated his commitment to taking responsibility and willingness to face appropriate sanctions.
September 5 UST formally accepted Ayo's resignation, as well as those of his two assistant coaches, McJour Luib and Jino Manansala. While thanking the three coaches, an official statement read that the basketball program was moving forward to a rebuilding phase without a head coach.
September 9 The UAAP board has handed down an indefinite ban on Aldin Ayo. The league came up with the conclusion that the resigned coach has endangered the "health and well-being" of his players by holding a training camp, which was a violation of the government's health protocols amid the pandemic. The league's Board of Managing Directors recommended the sanction and was ratified by the Board of Trustees, which are composed of the UAAP's eight member school presidents. The ban prohibits Ayo from participating in any capacity, in all UAAP events and UAAP-sanctioned activities.
September 14 Jimi Lim's Ironcon Builders withdrew their sponsorship of the Growling Tigers' basketball program. The consortium came onboard before the start of the 2019 UAAP season to take over Chuck Dumlao's FMR Corporation and to mainly give support to Aldin Ayo. With this new partnership, the team was able to recruit blue chips from the high school ranks, boosting not only the senior men's team, but also their junior counterpart, the UST Tiger Cubs basketball program. With Ayo's resignation, Ironcon decided to also leave.
September 19 Mark Nonoy and Deo Cuajao, in an interview disputed claims made by Cansino on what transpired in their training camp in Sorsogon. Nonoy clarified that the players did not hold any scrimmages as they trained separately in different batches and in different facilities within Ayo's property. Regarding their sleeping arrangements, Cuajao said that three players were staying in one room. He did not address the issue about the group chat complaints, adding the players involved came to Sorsogon a month before he and Nonoy arrived. On Cansino's narration about their movements being restricted within the "bubble," the two denied it by saying that anyone in the team was able to leave and come back freely at any time.
September 30