Yuri never backs off

JAKARTA – At the sidelines of the ANTA Kyrie Irving World Tour here, San Beda University men’s basketball head coach Yuri Escueta spoke about the coming NCAA season where the Red Lions are the defending champions on his fifth year at the helm.

Escueta, 41, played for the San Beda juniors then transferred to Ateneo where as a senior, he teamed with Chris Newsome to win the UAAP championship under coach Norman Black. Transitioning to coaching, he won four UAAP titles as an Ateneo assistant and four PBA crowns as a TNT assistant. Since taking over from Boyet Fernandez in the San Beda saddle, Escueta has won two championships in the last four years. The constants in both victory rides were Nygel Gonzales, Jomel Puno and Yukien Andrada. Gonzales will miss this coming season with an ACL injury while Andrada has joined Magnolia in the PBA but Puno is coming back. It’ll be another tough challenge for Escueta after losing Jacob Cortez, James Payosing and Janti Miller through the years but he’s not backing off. Aldous Torculas’ entry from UP will be a big boost.

“We never get in the way of a player who wants to transfer,” said Escueta. “Our maximum allowance is probably the minimum for some school teams. But we give our players the opportunity to learn from overseas training, to get ready for the pros, to grow through the San Beda program. This month, we’re going back to Malaga and work with Spanish national assistant coach Luis Guil. The other option was to set up camp in New Zealand. But Spain offers us to learn concepts and that’s more important.”

Escueta had no comment on UAAP’s decision to defer San Beda’s application to join the league. “I understand UAAP will revisit the application next year,” he said. Four schools, meanwhile, are expressing strong interest to join the NCAA – Our Lady of Fatima University, CEU, San Beda Alabang and PCU.

Escueta accompanied Puno and his San Beda teammates Zed Etulle, Dan Marcelo and Torculas on the ANTA trip. Etulle, Marcelo and Puno played in a 3x3 exhibition facing an Indonesian team with Kevin Moses Poetiray, Sandy Ibrahim, Surliyadin Iton and Althof Satrio at the Pondok Indah Mall yesterday. Torculas, who suffered an ankle sprain in an Agusan del Sur tournament last Saturday, was in uniform but didn’t play. The San Beda delegation arrived in Manila from Bayugan City via Butuan last Sunday morning in time to catch the flight to Jakarta that night.