WHO will get the Perpetual Help coaching job?
Coach Stevenson Tiu and pro league great Jerry Codinera have emerged as candidates to the Altas job after Frankie Lim called it quits last Sept. 15.
Codinera is open to the idea of calling the shots in the NCAA anew, if Perpetual wants to.
“It’s an honor for me to be considered for the head coaching job,” Codiñera told Malaya-Business Insight.
“(But) so far wala pa (offer). Anytime soon iyan. No idea regarding the choice, I’d rather wait. If I’d be chosen, I will be excited as ever, great feeling and blessed,” he added.
Lim left after the Las Pinas-based school failed to fulfill its financial obligations that the four-time NCAA champion coach is entitled to.
The Altas’ athletics program was reportedly shut down last May due to the financial repercussions brought about by the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic.
Of the two, Tiu has the inside track for the coaching post since he is part of Phenom Sports, which is interested in taking over as Perpetual’s men’s basketball program sponsor.
A highly-reliable source said Phenom Sports and the Altas are in talks for a possible partnership.
“Nag-uusap pa lang kami ng Perpetual,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
“Wala pang definite,” the source added.
Codiñera, 53, coached Arellano University from 2013 to 2018 and steered the Chiefs to a finals stint in 2014 and 2016, losing both times to San Beda University.
The “Defense Minister” resigned at the helm of the Chiefs midway through the season in 2018 and is now coaching Nueva Ecija in the MPBL.
He also handled University of the East in the UAAP from 2011 to 2012.
Tiu, 57, guided BRT Sumisip Basilan-St. Clare to a title in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup last year against Marinerong Pilipino.
He also won crowns while calling the shots for Hope Christian High School in the PSSBC, MMBL, and Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association, and Jumbo Plastic Linoleum in the PCBL.
Parading a young core built around Anthony Peralta, Jielo Razon, and Kim Aurin after the graduation of former MVP and Nigerian center Prince Eze, the Altas wound up with a 5-13 record for seventh in the last NCAA cage wars.
