AFTER just one season, Bal David is leaving University of Santo Tomas.
A highly reliable team insider told Malaya-Business Insight yesterday that David has tendered his resignation to the school’s Institute of Physical Education and Athletics.
“Nag-resign na si coach Bal David sa UST,” the insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. “Nag-resign kanina lang 4 p.m. Isa-submit sa IPEA.”
In his first year calling the shots for his alma mater, David steered the Growing Tigers to a woeful 1-13 slate– dead last in the eight-team field.
UST’s lone win came at the expense of Adamson University 69-60 in the league’s opening match.
The likes of prolific scorer Nic Cabañero, Senegalese center Adama Faye, and Paul Manalang are expected to lead the Tigers next season.
Cabañero led the team last year with 17.75 points, 6.75 rebounds, and 2.75 assists in 30 minutes of play.
David took over at the helm of UST vice Jiñino Manansala last July in the Tigers’ bid to regain lost glory.
Under Manansala, the España-based five finished with a 3-11 record in the 84th season last summer.
David was a member of UST’s two straight titles in 1993 and 1994 under the late great Aric del Rosario and later carved out a memorable 10-year career with Ginebra in the PBA.
A two-time champion with the Kings and a four-time All-Star, David, 50, served as coach for Fern-C in the defunct PBL and an assistant coach for Liver Marin in the PBA D-League.
In September 2020, UST was marred in controversy after former tactician Aldin Ayo allegedly broke the government’s stringent health protocols by bringing the Tigers’ practice to his hometown in Sorsogon City amid the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic from mid-June to August of the same year.
Ayo has been suspended indefinitely in the UAAP and has since handled the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 national team and is now proving his worth with Converge in Asia’s firs play-for-pay league.
