The 2023 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented the University of Santo Tomas in the 86th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the academic year 2023–24 began on September 30, 2023, and the host school for the season was the University of the East.
The Tigers finished eighth and last at the end of the double round-robin eliminations for the second straight year with a 2–12 record after going through a 19-game losing streak that dated back from Season 85. They won only their opening game on October 1, 2022 and then went through a pile of defeats that continued to the current season, where they lost six straight games in the first round of eliminations.
They had an average winning margin of 6.0 points and an average losing margin of 16.5 points. Five of their losses were by blowouts, with one against the Ateneo Blue Eagles by 20 points in the first round, and two in each round against the De La Salle Green Archers and the UP Fighting Maroons, by 20, 31, 31, and 25 points, respectively. Their first round game against the Adamson Soaring Falcons resulted to a three-point overtime loss.
Nic Cabañero once again led the league in scoring with an average of 16.8 points per game. He scored 25 points in their first round game against La Salle, and finished with more than 20 points in three of their other games. He was ranked 8th in the players' MVP tally with 60.1 statistical points at the end of the second round of eliminations.
Roster The Growling Tigers came out with a list of 18 players in the days leading to the start of the UAAP tournament. Sophomore guard Soysoy Escobido and former Tiger Cubs playmaker Jethro Escoto did not make the cut to the official 16-man roster.
Depth chartDepth chart
Roster changes Four players have departed the Growling Tigers' roster, with Jamba Garing and Ian Herrera graduating, and Richi Calimag and Royce Mantua transferring. Soysoy Escobido and Kendall Valentin were cut from the team's final lineup. Mantua, Escobido, and Valentin had suited up in the Tigers' preseason games, but Mantua decided to move to Adamson in September. Calimag left as early as February to transfer to San Beda in the NCAA.
Garing averaged 3.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game in 15.7 minutes last season, while Calimag and Mantua averaged 3.5 and 3.3 points, and 2.9 and 2.3 rebounds in 14.6 and 10.5 minutes, respectively. Herrera saw limited action, playing behind Adama Faye, for 3.7 minutes per game.
In early February, then incoming assistant coach and former Growling Tiger Japs Cuan oversaw the team's training and observed positive development in the performance of their holdovers from Season 85. The coaching staff was still anticipating the arrival of new recruits that time.
Replacing the six players were Angelo Crisostomo, Ivanne Calum, and Thirdy Esmeña, from UST's training pool, rookies SJ Moore and Mark Llemit, and Vince Ventulan, a one-and-done Filipino American recruit from Florida.
Moore was ranked 15th among the National Basketball Training Center's top 24 high school players for 2023, and was named Most Valuable Player in the All-star game of the NBTC National Finals. The high-leaping swingman was a one-and-done high school player from the Arellano Braves, who averaged 19.0 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game in the NCAA Juniors tournament. He led the Braves in ending the Letran Squires' winning streak in the first round with a double-double of 24 points and 18 rebounds, on top of four shot blocks in February. Moore made his commitment to play for the UST Growling Tigers official on March 24, 2023.
UST Tiger Cub forward Mark Llemit committed to UST on April 13, 2023. He was named the 19th best high school player by the NBTC and had led the Tiger Cubs to the semifinals of both the UAAP and the Division 1 of the NBTC National Finals. Llemit had earlier scored a career-high 27 points against the UPIS Junior Maroons to lead his team to the Final Four in the UAAP Boys division in February. Both Moore and Llemit are eligible for five playing years starting in Season 86.
Departures PF 1 Recaredo Calimag Jr. 6' 4" 2nd Diamond Bar High School Transferred to San Beda UniversityC 5 Ian Joseph Herrera 6' 6" 3rd La Salle Greenhills GraduatedSF 12 Royce Deakin Mantua 6' 4" 3rd Far Eastern University–Diliman Transferred to Adamson UniversitySF 18 Vincent Raymund Escobido 6' 2" 2nd University of Santo Tomas Relegated to Team BSG 20 JC Alvin Garing 5' 9" 3rd Divine Word College of Legazpi GraduatedSG 33 Kendall Xavier Valentin 6' 2" 2nd Adamson University Relegated to Team B
Acquisitions PG 1 Bevir Ivanne Calum 5' 11" 1st St. Louis School–Don Bosco Promoted from Team BC 3 Prudencio Adrian Esmeña III 6' 6" 1st National University Nazareth School Promoted from Team BSF 8 Vincent Gabriel Ventulan 6' 4" 5th Fort Pierce Central High School Transferred from Ave Maria UniversityPF 10 Mark Angelo Crisostomo 6' 5" 1st Sta. Teresita National High School Promoted from Team BSF 12 Saentis James Moore 6' 1" 1st Arellano University High School RookiePF 14 Mark Allen Llemit 6' 3" 1st University of Santo Tomas Rookie
Recruiting class SJ Moore SF 6' 1" Arellano University High School Baclayon 24 Mar 2023 2023 NBTC Top 24 rank: 15 (All-Star game participant with Team Hustle; All-Star game MVP)2023 SLAM Rising Stars Challenge participant (with Team Punks)Mark Llemit PF 6' 3" University of Santo Tomas Laak, Davao de Oro 13 Apr 2023 2023 NBTC Top 24 rank: 19 (National Finals #2 seed, Division 1 semifinalist with UST; All-Star game participant with Team Heart)2023 SLAM Rising Stars Challenge participant (with Team Punks)Ivanne Calum PG 5' 11" St. Louis School–Don Bosco Dumaguete 22 Aug 2022 2019 NBTC Top 24 rank: N/A (National Finals #22 seed, Division 2 quarterfinalist with SLS–Don Bosco)
Coaching changes On January 26, 2023, The Varsitarian, UST's student publication, reported that Bal David had resigned as the team's head coach, just six months after taking on the position. The Tigers have had two coaching changes since the training bubble controversy in 2020. David replaced Jino Manansala and was appointed coach with only two months of preparation before the start of the 85th season of the UAAP. The team managed to get only a single win in the 14-game tournament under him.
As their Season 85 campaign ended, David had hoped to coach for one more season and continue UST's rebuilding in the offseason, but only two months after, the 50-year old mentor had tendered his resignation. When asked why he was stepping down, David alluded to the manner in which the basketball program was handled the past year.
The former Growling Tiger playmaker, who is best remembered for his championship-winning free throw during the 1994 UAAP Finals against La Salle, was in for a rough homecoming when he accepted the offer to coach the 2022 team. The Tigers were coming off a 3–11 win–loss campaign that was riddled with blowout losses, one that even broke the league record for the most lopsided outcome, when they got beaten by Ateneo by 50 points. Next came the decommitment of their blue chip recruits, when the Filipino American bigman Gani Stevens transferred to the University of the East, and the high-scoring Kean Baclaan's move to National University, as well as the ineligibility issues of two of their veterans, when Sherwin Concepcion and Bryan Santos were both ruled to have exceeded the league's age limit.
One week later, UST officially announced the appointment of returning head coach Pido Jarencio. Jarencio resigned in 2013 after leading the Tigers to back-to-back runner-up finishes when he accepted an offer to coach the NorthPort Batang Pier team in the Philippine Basketball Association. He signed a three-year contract on February 13, 2023 in the presence of the Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA) director Fr. Rodel Cansancio and UST rector Fr. Richard Ang. Also present in the signing were former Letran Knights' coach and Jarencio's Northport associate Bonnie Tan, who was named team consultant of the Growling Tigers; former Knights' team managers Waiyip Chong and Eric Ang, who were set to serve as UST's new managers; and an all-UST alumni coaching staff.
On July 10, 2023, the UST basketball program formally received support from San Miguel Corporation when they named Alfrancis Chua, former Glowing Goldie and current sports director of SMC, as the Tigers' Special Assistant to the Rector for Sports.
Schedule and results Preseason tournaments The rebuilding Growling Tigers opted to not participate in the preseason tournaments, and instead went to Korea to train for eleven days by playing tune-up games against professional teams from the Korean Basketball League, and against top collegiate teams.
When the Tigers came back to the country, they joined the Breakdown Basketball Invitational tournament, where they fielded two teams composed of their blue chip recruits who are undergoing the residency period, as well as members of their training pool who were fighting for slots in the 16-man UAAP roster.
The Breakdown Basketball Invitational games were played in a single round-robin format and all of UST's games were broadcast via livestream on Sulit Breakdown Basketball's Facebook page.
UAAP games
Elimination games were played in a double round-robin format and all of UST's games were televised on One Sports and the UAAP Varsity Channel.
UAAP statistics Nic Cabañero 14 13 32.7 84 232 36.2 17 67 25.4 50 94 53.2 6.4 2.4 1.1 0.0 2.7 16.8 Christian Manaytay 14 13 25.6 55 133 41.4 6 21 28.6 50 64 78.1 7.3 0.9 1.1 0.8 3.3 11.9 Migs Pangilinan 14 9 25.6 43 134 32.1 26 88 29.5 20 30 66.7 3.4 1.1 1.1 0.2 0.9 9.4 Ivanne Calum 14 5 13.9 22 54 40.7 8 19 42.1 19 28 67.9 2.4 1.5 1.0 0.1 1.3 5.1 Echo Laure 14 4 18.2 27 60 45.0 0 3 0.0 8 14 57.1 4.6 1.2 0.4 0.4 1.2 4.4 Gelo Crisostomo 14 6 15.3 29 57 50.9 0 1 0.0 2 5 40.0 4.6 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.6 4.3 Kenji Duremdes 14 4 15.9 24 56 42.9 5 17 29.4 4 10 40.0 3.6 1.9 1.0 0.4 1.3 4.1 Paul Manalang 14 9 21.2 18 65 27.7 4 33 12.1 11 15 73.3 2.6 2.7 0.6 0.0 1.6 3.6 SJ Moore 11 2 7.9 9 23 39.1 0 4 0.0 8 18 44.4 1.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.5 2.4 Vince Ventulan 10 0 6.7 9 18 50.0 2 7 28.6 3 6 50.0 1.3 0.5 0.3 0.0 0.5 2.3 Mark Llemit 14 0 9.1 6 23 26.1 1 10 10.0 11 14 78.6 1.8 0.9 0.4 0.0 0.6 1.7 Ivan Lazarte 14 3 5.2 8 28 28.6 0 5 0.0 5 13 38.5 0.8 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.6 1.5 JJ Gesalem 11 1 4.6 4 19 21.1 4 18 22.2 1 2 50.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.4 1.2 Kylle Magdangal 9 0 3.6 2 9 22.2 1 6 16.7 0 0 0.0 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.6 Adama Faye 2 1 5.3 0 2 0.0 0 0 0.0 1 2 50.0 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 Thirdy Esmeña 6 0 3.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.0 Total 14 40.4 340 913 37.2 74 299 24.7 193 315 61.3 41.5 14.1 7.9 2.6 16.6 67.6 Opponents 14 40.4 409 1,006 40.7 136 422 32.2 181 275 65.8 47.5 20.9 8.7 4.9 15.4 81.1
Source: Imperium Technology
Summary of games Even as the Growling Tigers finished dead last in Season 85, ESPN Philippines ranked them in their preseason assessment just below the top four powerhouse teams of UP, Ateneo, La Salle, and NU, with a B-minus rating. UST had been serious in turning their fortunes around, when they welcomed the return of Jarencio, the coach who gave the community their last championship in 2006, and paved the way to finalizing the team's partnership with San Miguel Corporation. With it came the needed recruitment of high school standouts and blue chip players.
Last season, Nic Cabañero became a primary player for the team following the departure of several veterans. He led the league in scoring, while he and Adama Faye were the team's statistical leaders. This season, he is focusing on leadership within the roster.
First round UE Red Warriors