Letran confident Napa can steer Knights to another title

MANILA, Philippines – Can Jeff Napa help Letran win an NCAA championship the same way he steered National University to several UAAP juniors crowns?

Letran athletic moderator and Management Comittee member Fr. Vic Calvo, OP, thinks so.

"The school wants to get someone who can win us championships and we feel he can," said Calvo referring to Napa, who is coaching a college team for the first time in his life after several assistant coaching duties and a high school coaching job at NU.

Napa's appointment came in a simple ceremony inside the Letran campus and in the presence of top school priests and officials and students.

Napa, who coached the Bullpups to three championships in his five-year stint including this season, for his part, said he's up to the task.

"I didn't promise anything except we will do our best to win a title," said the 35-year-old Napa.

Minus Mark Cruz and Kevin Racal who are now in the PBA, Napa will inherit the team that predecessor Aldin Ayo formed and eventually helped win a championship with an improbable title conquest of powerhouse San Beda last season.

Ayo went on to accept a coaching job at La Salle in the UAAP, paving the way for the entry of Napa.

"We will have to make do with what we have and I'm confident of the team I will be having," he said.

Napa will bring in to Letran his NU high school assistant Chico Manabat, who will take over from the former as Bullpups mentor in the UAAP.