Ateneo de Manila University head coach Tab Baldwin against Far Eastern University in UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball. Photo from UAAP Media.MANILA — Tab Baldwin welcomed with open arms his three-year extension to remain as Ateneo de Manila University head coach.
READ: Tab Baldwin signs contract extension with Ateneo
The four-time UAAP champion mentor — just a few hours before their season 88 men’s basketball debut — officially put pen to paper, extending his stint as Blue Eagles mentor until Season 89 to 91.
“It kinda feels like coming home without having left home,” said the former Gilas Pilipinas coach after steering the Ateneans to an 86-83 overtime victory over Far Eastern University on Saturday. “Ateneo is where I belong.”
READ: Bahay takes charge late, steers Ateneo past FEU in thrilling Season 88 opener
For Baldwin, this development was a breath of fresh air especially after he spent the past year, or since Season 87, with uncertainty.
“To be honest, when there's uncertainty around you, as a coach, you have to dip your toe in the market and see what's out there,” Baldwin admitted. “And so, there were distractions, I guess you'd say, for me. But at the end of the day, this is where I wanted to be.”
“And I guess the process ended today,” the American-Kiwi mentor continued. “It's not fun to be uncertain about your future. But we put all that to bed today. I can't express enough my gratitude to the Ateneo management for their confidence in me.”
“If I haven't said thank you to God and thank you for the opportunity to continue to work at a Catholic University, I'm very privileged, very honored. And when I say my prayers tonight, I will thank God. Because I also know that over the last 10 years, I've grown as a person,” he added.
And now that things are set for Baldwin and Ateneo for the foreseeable future, they now turn their focus on solely making Ateneo great again.
“We've got to learn fast, we've got to grow up,” he emphasized. “We have young players, and they're talented players, but I can't wait to get in the dugout and tear some strips off of them right now.”
“So we've got to mature. If we make mistakes like that, we're going to cost ourselves games that we actually play well enough to win. And a championship team can't do that. If we want to be there slugging it out with the top teams at the end and not just showing up to be at the party, then we've got to learn,” Baldwin challenged his team.
RELATED VIDEO: