2016 UST Growling Tigers basketball team

2016 79 UST Growling Tigers 8 8 3–11 Boy Sablan 1st Tylon Dar Juan Bam Ledesma Louie Vigil 5th The 2016 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented University of Santo Tomas in the 79th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the school year 2016–17 began on September 4, 2016, and the host school for the season was also UST.https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/02/16/uaap-season-79-set-for-simple-opening-ceremony-at-ust UAAP Season 79 set for 'simple' opening ceremony at UST ABS-CBN Sports Naredo, Camille 3 Sep 2016 The Tigers finished eighth and last at the end of the double round-robin eliminations, winning three games against eleven losses. It was the most number of losses in a season for the Growling Tigers since the Final Four format began in 1993. They had an average winning margin of 3.7 points and an average losing margin of 16.2 points. Three of their losses were by blowouts, once to the Adamson Falcons in the first round by 27 points, and twice to the De La Salle Green Archers by 38 and 43 points respectively.http://sportsgatewayph.net/adamson-finishes-first-round-with-blowout-over-ust Adamson finishes first round with blowout over UST Sports Gateway PH 5 Oct 2016 27 Oct 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161027100007/http://sportsgatewayph.net/adamson-finishes-first-round-with-blowout-over-ust deadhttps://www.rappler.com/sports/150104-la-salle-blasts-ust-11-0-second-round-uaap-basketball/ La Salle blasts UST for 11-0 record Rappler Bracher, Jane 17 Oct 2016 Second-year guard Marvin Lee was chosen Player of the Week by the UAAP Press Corps in the second round of eliminations for the duration of October 12–16.https://sports.abs-cbn.com/uaap/news/2016/10/17/player-week-lee-proving-key-ust-s-playoff-hopes-16644 Player of the Week Lee proving key to UST's playoff hopes ABS-CBN Sports 23 Oct 2016 18 Oct 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161018204523/http://sports.abs-cbn.com/uaap/news/2016/10/17/player-week-lee-proving-key-ust-s-playoff-hopes-16644 dead Roster UST Growling Tigers UAAP Season 79 5 Regie Boy Basibas PF 6 3 2nd Arellano University High School PHI 6 Sheak Jamil Sheriff, Jr. PG 5 9 5th Loyola Catholic Secondary School CAN 7 Jason Strait PF 6 4 1st Arellano University High School PHI 8 Oliver Wendell de Guzman SG 5 8 1st Nazareth School of National University PHI 9 Dean Marvin Lee SG 5 8 2nd Far Eastern University–Diliman PHI 10 Henri Lorenzo Subido PG 5 9 3rd De La Salle Santiago Zobel School PHI 11 Enrique Caunan, Jr. SF 6 5 2nd Colegio de San Juan de Letran PHI 12 Jon Cornelius Macasaet PF 6 3 2nd San Sebastian College-Recoletos PHI 13 Zachary Lance Eden Huang PF 6 4 2nd Sacred Heart School–Ateneo de Cebu PHI 14 Mario Emmanuel Bonleon, Jr. SG 6 3 2nd La Salle Greenhills PHI yes 15 Jeepy Faundo C 6 6 4th José Rizal University PHI 16 Justin Arana PF 6 5 2nd Basud National High School PHI 17 William Kwabena Afoakwah C 6 6 1st Ideal College Senior High School GHA 18 Louie Philippe Vigil SG 6 3 5th José Rizal University C PHI 19 Kent Jefferson Lao SF 6 4 5th Saint Stephen's High School PHI 20 Tsutomu Tateishi C 6 9 1st Ateneo de Davao University JPN PHI Rodil Sablan Tylon Filipe Dar Juan Juben Ledesma Ma. Genevieve Francisco Patrick Roy Fran Julian Rabbi Tomacruz John Oswald Aquino Kris Anthony Agarao http://stats.humblebola.com/uaap/teams/17-UST-Growling-Tigers?tournament_id=23 Depth chart UST Growling Tigers Afoakwah Huang Lao Vigil Sheriff Faundo Macasaet Caunan Lee Subido Tateishi Arana Strait Basibas De Guzman Roster changes Subtractions UST Growling Tigers Pos. Position No. Jersey number Nat. Nationality Player Height Year High school Notes SG 5 PHI Janus Kyle Christian Suarez 6' 2" 3rd Ateneo de Manila Out due to ACL injuryPF 7 PHI Kevin Ferrer 6' 4" 5th University of Santo Tomas GraduatedSG 8 PHI Eduardo Daquioag, Jr. 6' 1" 5th RTU Laboratory High School GraduatedPG 10 PHI Osama Said Abdurasad 5' 10" 2nd Kaunlaran High School Transferred to Arellano UniversityPG 12 PHI Janrey Garrido 5' 6" 3rd Hope Christian High School Out due to hamstring injuryC 20 CMR Karim Abdul 6' 6" 5th Sta. Clara International Academy Graduated Additions UST Growling Tigers Pos. Position No. Jersey number Nat. Nationality Player Height Year High school Notes PF 5 PHI Regie Boy Basibas 6' 3" 2nd Arellano University High School Returning from Season 77PF 7 PHI Jason Strait 6' 4" 1st Arellano University High School RookieSG 8 PHI Oliver Wendell de Guzman 5' 8" 1st Nazareth School of National University RookiePF 12 PHI Jon Cornelius Macasaet 6' 3" 2nd San Sebastian College-Recoletos Returning from Season 77C 17 GHA William Kwabena Afoakwah 6' 6" 1st Ideal College Senior High School Transferred from De La Salle UniversityC 20 JPN Tsutomu Tateishi 6' 9" 1st Ateneo de Davao University Promoted from Team B Coaching changes Boy Sablan replaced Bong dela Cruz as the Tigers' head coach following controversies surrounding the latter. Almost two months after falling short of winning the championship against the FEU Tamaraws in Season 78's Finals series, Dela Cruz became the subject of an administrative investigation stemming from complaints of physical and verbal abuse that he allegedly made against some of the players in the roster.https://www.spin.ph/basketball/uaap-men/ust-growling-tigers-bong-dela-cruz-investigation UST source details maltreatment, violence allegedly committed by coach Bong Dela Cruz against players SPIN.ph Terrado, Reuben 28 Jan 2016https://www.rappler.com/sports/uaap/120817-background-growling-tigers-coach-bong-dela-cruz/ What we know about UST head coach Bong Dela Cruz Rappler 30 Jan 2016 Short of calling it a preventive suspension, the Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA) has ordered the coach to recuse himself from team activities until a decision on his tenure was reached based on would-be findings from the investigations. As a result, Dela Cruz stopped attending team practices beginning January 25, 2016.https://www.rappler.com/sports/uaap/120567-bong-dela-cruz-under-probe/ UST coach Bong Dela Cruz under probe Rappler Ganglani, Naveen 28 Jan 2016https://sports.abs-cbn.com/uaap/news/2016/01/26/no-bong-dela-cruz-ust-growling-tigers-practice-8252 No Bong dela Cruz in UST Growling Tigers practice ABS-CBN Sports 26 Jan 2016 28 Jan 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160128105806/http://sports.abs-cbn.com/uaap/news/2016/01/26/no-bong-dela-cruz-ust-growling-tigers-practice-8252 dead Rumors surfaced that former Growling Tiger Bal David was among those who were being considered to replace Dela Cruz, but eventually, it was Sablan who was selected to be the new coach in late May where he signed a one-year contract for the upcoming Season 79 basketball tournament.https://www.spin.ph/basketball/uaap-men/bong-dela-cruz-on-his-way-out-as-ust-coach-bal-david-among-top-candidates-for-job Bong Dela Cruz on way out as UST coach, Bal David among top candidates, say sources SPIN.ph Terrado, Reuben 23 Jan 2016https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/06/01/16/ust-names-sablan-as-new-coach-of-growling-tigers UST names Sablan as new coach of Growling Tigers ABS-CBN Sports 1 Jun 2016 Sablan was a Glowing Goldies teammate of former coach Pido Jarencio in the 1980s and also served as one of his deputies from 2006 until 2013.https://www.rappler.com/sports/uaap/145149-no-stars-only-role-players-ust-tigers-uaap-season-79/ No stars; only role players, unselfish play for UST in UAAP 79 Rappler Bracher, Jane 4 Sep 2016 Coaching staff Appointed as Sablan's deputies were Tylon Dar Juan, Bam Ledesma, Gina Francisco, Patrick Fran, Rabbi Tomacruz, John Aquino, and Kris Anthony Agarao. Dar Juan was the coach of the Arellano Braves in the NCAA. He was also a member of the coaching staff of the Blackwater Elite team in the PBA alongside Sablan.https://sports.abs-cbn.com/ncaa/news/2016/07/18/coach-darjuan-s-pba-dream-lives-braves-13442 Coach Darjuan's PBA dream lives on through his Braves ABS-CBN Sports Riego, Norman Lee Benjamin 18 Jul 2016 14 Jul 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170714100806/http://sports.abs-cbn.com/ncaa/news/2016/07/18/coach-darjuan-s-pba-dream-lives-braves-13442 dead Ledesma was a member of the coaching staff of the Tigresses basketball team. Francisco was UST's team captain of the women's basketball team in the 1980s and has been a long-time assistant coach of the men's basketball team.https://sports.inquirer.net/147825/usts-francisco-joins-us-program UST's Francisco joins US program Philippine Daily Inquirer Payo, Jasmine 16 Mar 2014 Fran, a former Growling Tiger and PBA player, was as a member of the coaching staff at the Meralco Bolts in the PBA.https://www.spin.ph/basketball/uaap-men/patrick-fran-returns-to-alma-mater-as-ust-assistant-coach Former UST guard Patrick Fran embraces opportunity to give back to yellow and gold SPIN.ph Terrado, Reuben 13 Sep 2016 Tomacruz, who was also a former Glowing Goldie and PBA player also served as Jarencio's assistant coach. Aquino has been the strength and conditioning coach of the Meralco Bolts in the PBA since 2010. Agarao has been the strength and conditioning coach of the Growling Tigers since 2012. Ineligibility issues Before the start of the season, the UAAP came out with a new ruling that would lower the age limit of student-athletes from the previously accepted 25 years to 24 years. This would mean that two of the three graduating Growling Tigers would be considered over aged for the upcoming UAAP tournament. Team captain Louie Vigil, Fil-Canadian point guard Jon Sheriff and forward Kent Lao were on their final playing year in the Tigers roster, but only Vigil and Sheriff would be affected by the new rule. Sheriff turned 25 on July 31, while Vigil would be the same age on September 26.https://sports.inquirer.net/213575/new-ust-coach-sablan-grapples-with-ineligibility-of-vigil-sheriff New UST coach Sablan grapples with ineligibility of Vigil, Sheriff Philippine Daily Inquirer Leongson, Randolph 1 Jun 2016https://varsitarian.net/sports/sports/20160901/age_limit_bars_sheriff_from_growling_tigers_uaap_roster Age limit bars Sheriff from Growling Tigers’ UAAP roster The Varsitarian Matel, Philip Martin Villanueva, Ralph Edwin 1 Sep 2016https://sports.inquirer.net/213701/vigil-frustrated-over-ineligibility-as-ust-left-without-veteran-leader Vigil frustrated over ineligibility as UST left without veteran leader Philippine Daily Inquirer Leongson, Randolph 3 Jun 2016 Vigil was already considering signing up for the PBA rookie draft in October when the UAAP decided to defer implementation of the said rule. Protests lodged by concerned schools and affected athletes were instrumental in the reversion of the age eligibility rules. This was announced after the UAAP board of trustees convened in their annual planning session in Spain.https://www.foxsportsasia.com/basketball/345636/louie-vigil-eyes-pba-jump-uaap-lowers-age-limit https://web.archive.org/web/20220414090145/https://www.foxsportsasia.com/basketball/345636/louie-vigil-eyes-pba-jump-uaap-lowers-age-limit dead April 14, 2022 Louie Vigil eyes PBA jump after UAAP lowers age limit Fox Sports Asia Lagunzad, Jerome 2 Jun 2016https://www.spin.ph/basketball/uaap-men/uaap-reverts-back-to-old-rule-on-age-limit UAAP backs out of plan to lower age limit, maintains scrapping of 'seven year window' SPIN.ph Terrado, Reuben 4 Jun 2016 Injuries Mario Bonleon suffered a season-ending wrist injury during their September 14 game against La Salle in the first round of eliminations.https://www.rappler.com/sports/uaap/146366-ust-embons-bonleon-injury-surgery-out/ UST's Embons Bonleon to undergo surgery, out 6-8 months Rappler Ganglani, Naveen 15 Sep 2016 Schedule and results Preseason tournaments UST Growling Tigers Preseason UST Growling Tigers 2016 Got Skills U25 Summer Showcase compact 2 2 no no yes 1 Apr 19 no NU Enderun Colleges Gym, Taguig 0–1 49–56 Vigil 18 2 Apr 27 no Enderun Colleges Titans Enderun Colleges Gym, Taguig 0–2 53–60 Lao 12 3 May 12 no Lyceum Enderun Colleges Gym, Taguig 1–2 62–33 Lee 14 4 May 14 no FEU Enderun Colleges Gym, Taguig 2–2 50–42 Subido 13 UST Growling Tigers 1st Recoletos de Cebu Invitational Cup compact 3 1 no no 1 Jul 14 2:00 pm no USJ–R Jaguars Recoletos Coliseum–Basak, Cebu City 1–0 73–60 Vigil 12 2 Jul 15 2:00 pm no UV Green Lancers Recoletos Coliseum–Basak, Cebu City 2–0 84–48 Bonleon 15 3 Jul 16 4:00 pm no USC Warriors Recoletos Coliseum–Basak, Cebu City 3–0 63–58 Subido 10 3 Jul 17 4:00 pm no USJ–R Jaguars Recoletos Coliseum–Basak, Cebu City 3–1 86–89 Vigil 20 Championship game UST Growling Tigers Buddha Light International Association Cup compact 0 3 no no 1 Aug 17 no Hsing Wu University Kaohsiung ArenaTaiwan 0–1 l 2 Aug 18 no University of Tsukuba Kaohsiung ArenaTaiwan 0–2 l 3 Aug 19 no McMaster Marauders Kaohsiung ArenaTaiwan 0–3 70–93 yes no UTC+08:00 UAAP games UAAP Season 79 basketball tournaments Elimination games were played in a double round-robin format and all of UST's games were televised on ABS-CBN Sports and Action and Balls. UST Growling Tigers UAAP Season 79 UST Growling Tigers Elimination round compact 3 11 no no yes 1 Sep 4 4:00 pm no ADMU Smart Araneta ColiseumQuezon City 0–1 69–73 Vigil 21 Tied 9 Subido 6 2 Sep 10 2:00 pm no UE Smart Araneta ColiseumQuezon City 1–1 88–87 Subido 26 Macasaet 10 Sheriff 4 3 Sep 14 4:00 pm no DLSU Mall of Asia ArenaPasay 1–2 62–100 Subido 18 Afoakwah 10 Subido 4 4 Sep 17 2:00 pm no UP Smart Araneta ColiseumQuezon City 2–2 83–77 Vigil 18 Faundo 9 Vigil 7 5 Sep 25 4:00 pm no NU Mall of Asia ArenaPasay 2–3 68–75 Sheriff 16 Afoakwah 15 Tied 2 6 Oct 1 4:00 pm no FEU Mall of Asia ArenaPasay 2–4 72–79 Vigil 16 Basibas 8 Lee 5 7 Oct 5 2:00 pm no Adamson Mall of Asia ArenaPasay 2–5 52–79 Lao 13 Afoakwah 12 Tied 3 End of R1 of eliminations 8 Oct 8 2:00 pm no UE Red Warriors Mall of Asia ArenaPasay 2–6 61–71 Vigil 21 Afoakwah 21 Sheriff 4 9 Oct 12 4:00 pm no FEU Tamaraws Mall of Asia ArenaPasay 2–7 48–59 Vigil 18 Faundo 17 Tied 2 10 Oct 15 4:00 pm no NU Bulldogs Smart Araneta ColiseumQuezon City 3–7 73–69 Lee 22 Afoakwah 13 Vigil 5 11 Oct 23 2:00 pm no De La Salle Green Archers Smart Araneta ColiseumQuezon City 3–8 56–99 Vigil 18 Afoakwah 11 Vigil 3 12 Nov 6 4:00 pm no UP Fighting Maroons Filoil Flying V CentreSan Juan 3–9 69–74 Vigil 16 Faundo 14 Sheriff 4 13 Nov 9 4:00 pm no Adamson Soaring Falcons Mall of Asia ArenaPasay 3–10 61–76 Sheriff 13 Faundo 9 Tied 2 14 Nov 12 2:00 pm no Ateneo Blue Eagles Mall of Asia ArenaPasay 3–11 64–74 Vigil 14 Tied 7 Lee 5 End of R2 of eliminations yes no UTC+08:00 Source: HumbleBolaJanuary 2022 InternetArchiveBot yes UAAP statistics UST Growling Tigers Player GP GS MPG FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% FTM FTA FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TOV PPG Louie Vigil 14 12 26.7 78 199 39.2 7 47 14.9 45 70 64.3 4.9 2.9 0.8 0.5 4.4 14.9 Jon Sheriff 14 12 22.5 57 124 46.0 2 3 66.7 8 13 61.5 3.5 2.6 1.7 0.0 2.1 8.9 Jeepy Faundo 13 3 19.7 25 64 39.1 0 0 0.0 22 42 52.4 8.2 0.4 0.3 0.5 1.2 8.1 Marvin Lee 14 3 18.9 39 125 31.2 14 59 23.7 18 20 90.0 2.6 1.7 0.5 0.1 2.1 7.9 Renzo Subido 14 2 16.3 29 93 31.2 8 38 21.1 28 41 68.3 1.6 1.4 0.6 0.0 2.4 6.7 Regie Boy Basibas 12 3 13.6 23 72 31.9 1 14 7.1 16 26 61.5 4.2 0.9 0.2 0.2 1.9 5.3 Kent Lao 14 8 20.2 21 83 25.3 8 37 21.6 22 32 68.8 3.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 1.7 5.1 Mario Bonleon 3 0 8.3 6 15 40.0 2 4 50.0 0 0 0.0 0.7 0.3 0.0 0.0 1.0 4.7 Joco Macasaet 14 3 12.2 18 42 42.9 0 0 0.0 10 15 66.7 3.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.9 3.3 Zach Huang 14 7 9.9 11 28 39.3 0 1 0.0 15 26 57.7 2.2 0.6 0.1 0.2 1.3 2.6 William Afoakwah 14 11 19.9 12 41 29.3 0 0 0.0 9 17 52.9 8.8 0.3 0.3 0.9 1.8 2.4 Oli de Guzman 14 1 6.6 10 30 33.4 4 13 30.8 5 6 83.3 1.0 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.9 2.1 Justin Arana 8 1 7.1 4 13 30.8 0 0 0.0 4 8 50.0 1.3 0.3 0.1 0.0 1.3 1.5 Enric Caunan 8 1 6.4 4 10 40.0 0 0 0.0 2 2 100.0 1.5 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.6 1.3 Teshi Tateishi 2 0 6.7 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 1.0 0.5 0.0 Jason Strait 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Total 14 40.0 337 940 35.9 46 216 21.3 204 318 64.2 45.2 11.6 4.6 2.6 23.3 66.1 Opponents 14 40.0 395 997 39.6 79 302 26.2 223 324 68.8 46.8 16.5 6.5 5.5 19.5 72.4 Source: HumbleBolaJanuary 2022 InternetArchiveBot yes Aftermath The future Reeling from one of their worst finishes in the UAAP, the UST community anticipated Steve Akomo's debut to strengthen the roster. The Cameroonian center established himself as a reliable reinforcement when he led the University of the Visayas to the CESAFI Finals in 2012 against Ben Mbala who was then playing for Southwestern University. During the Adamson–UST postgame interview at the MOA Arena last November 9, UST Coach Boy Sablan introduced Akomo to the press as the go-to guy for the Tigers alongside Joco Macasaet, Zach Huang and Regie Boy Basibas in their UAAP campaign for the next season. Macasaet, Huang, and Basibas, who were all in their second playing year, started the game for UST against the Falcons, while the veteran group of Louie Vigil, Kent Lao, Marvin Lee and Renzo Subido were benched, allegedly for disciplinary reasons. Sablan justified the action by saying that he was giving the fans a preview of the Tigers' future brand of basketball, in reference to the trio and Akomo.https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/11/10/16/touted-as-the-future-steve-akomo-vows-to-do-best-for-ust Touted as 'the future,' Steve Akomo vows to do best for UST ABS-CBN Sports Naredo, Camille 11 Nov 2016 The past Former head coach Pido Jarencio, who gave the Tigers the 2006 UAAP title and a back-to-back Finals appearances in 2012 and 2013 had indirectly given the UST community a glimmer of hope when he sent out a controversial tweet from his social media account on December 6. The message reads, "I am just a call away," and a follow-up tweet had Jarencio exclaiming, "let's bring back the glory!" Fans were quick to attribute his messages to the dismal performance of the team in the tournament, which was quite the opposite of their Finals run the previous year. Jarencio later confirmed in interviews that he was actually willing to come back to coach the team on two conditions, "if the position for head coach became vacant and if the management," and "if the UST community wanted him back." Jarencio resigned as UST's head coach in January 2014 in exchange for a coaching job in the PBA.https://www.rappler.com/sports/uaap/156286-pido-jarencio-open-ust-coaching-return-if-called/ Jarencio open to UST coaching return if called upon Rappler Bracher, Jane 22 Dec 2016https://www.rappler.com/sports/48979-end-of-an-era-pido-jarencio-leaves-ust-moves-to-globalport/ End of an era: Pido Jarencio leaves UST, moves to Globalport Rappler Bracher, Jane 27 Jan 2014 Departure of key players On May 4, Renzo Subido announced on Twitter his plan to skip the upcoming Season 80 tournament. He explained how he was dissatisfied with the way that he has played during the course of his three-year college career. He also added that he planned to join the PBA D-League where he was hoping to improve his skills. A week later, Mario Bonleon made a similar tweet about taking time off from the team. On May 11, he had cited experiencing burnout as one of the reasons for wanting to leave the team. He also expressed his intention to join a D-League team during his time away from the Tigers.http://varsitarian.net/sports/basketball/20170505/subido-to-miss-next-uaap Subido to miss next UAAP The Varsitarian Suing, Ivan Ruiz Anolin, Jan Carlo 5 May 2017http://varsitarian.net/sports/basketball/20170511/bonleon-to-miss-next-uaap-cites-burnout Bonleon to miss next UAAP, cites 'burnout' The Varsitarian Suing, Ivan Ruiz 11 May 2017 Rumored dissatisfaction with the coach The Growling Tigers joined the 2017 Filoil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup in the summer, but failed to make it past the elimination round compiling only a single win against seven losses. This was highlighted by a 39-point loss to the Lyceum Pirates. Because of the Tigers' poor showing, various reports began to circulate about some players' growing dissatisfaction with their head coach, which resulted to speculations that Sablan was on his way out as the team's chief tactician.https://tiebreakertimes.com.ph/tbt/growling-tigers-defend-ust-head-coach-from-rumors/87145 Growling Tigers defend UST head coach from 'rumors' Tiebreaker Times Li, Matthew Henry 4 Jun 2017http://varsitarian.net/sports/news/20170613/tigers-coach-on-his-way-out Tigers coach on his way out? The Varsitarian Suing, Ivan Ruiz 13 Jun 2017 Sablan, whose one-year contract expired on May 31, 2017, denied rumors of his replacement, pointing out that there was not much time left for a new coach to prepare the team in time for the September 9 tournament opening. Dar Juan and incoming team captain Marvin Lee have also come out to Sablan's defense. Lee denied the report that some of his teammates wanted to leave the team by explaining that the players were given permission by the coaching staff to go on leave. He was referring to Regie Boy Basibas, Zach Huang, and Joco Macasaet who were all absent during the game against the San Beda Red Lions. Dar Juan, on the other hand told reporters that Sablan was not in physical shape to coach the team after going through surgery, but added that the head coach was actually present during the May 21 game against the Letran Knights. Sablan had undergone surgery on his gallbladder on May 15 and was unable to coach the team during the tournament. Assistant coaches Tylon Dar Juan and Bam Ledesma took over practices and coaching duties.https://www.philstar.com/sports/2017/06/01/1705722/crisis-espana-more-players-mull-leaving-ust-tigers Crisis in Espana? More players mull leaving UST Tigers The Philippine Star 1 Jun 2017https://sports.abs-cbn.com/uaap/news/2017/06/04/team-captain-lee-says-tigers-issues-coach-boy-26900 Team captain Lee says Tigers have no issues with coach Sablan ABS-CBN Sports Riego, Norman Lee Benjamin 4 Jun 2017 10 Jun 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170610082732/http://sports.abs-cbn.com/uaap/news/2017/06/04/team-captain-lee-says-tigers-issues-coach-boy-26900 dead According to a tweet from former Varsitarian sports editor Alex Cerado on June 20, Sablan's contract has been renewed for another year. Awards UST Growling Tigers Name Award Date Ref. References Louie Vigil Kopiko 78's Recharged Player7 Dec 2016https://tiebreakertimes.com.ph/tbt/uaap-season-79-basketball-awarding-ceremony/73388 UAAP Season 79 Basketball Awarding Ceremony Tiebreaker Times Flores, Joaqui 7 Dec 2016 Marvin Lee Player of the Week12–16 Oct 2016 Players drafted into the PBA Louie Vigil was picked 17th overall in the second round of the 2017 PBA draft by the Leo Austria-led San Miguel Beermen on October 29, 2017. Kent Lao, meanwhile applied for the draft the following year and was selected in the third round by the Caloy Garcia-coached Rain or Shine Elasto Painters as the 30th overall pick in the 2018 PBA draft on December 16, 2018.https://sports.inquirer.net/270514/san-miguel-beermen-christian-standhardinger-top-pick-2017-pba-rookie-draft Beermen make Standhardinger top pick in 2017 PBA Draft Philippine Daily Inquirer Leongson, Randolph 29 Oct 2017https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/sports/basketball/678386/the-2018-pba-rookie-draft-picks The 2018 PBA Rookie Draft picks GMA News Online Carandang, Justin Kenneth 16 Dec 2018 UST Growling Tigers Year Round Pick Overall Player PBA team 2017 2 5 17 Louie Vigil San Miguel Beermen 2018 3 8 30 Kent Lao Rain or Shine Elasto Painters References Category:2016–17 in Philippine college basketball Category:UST Growling Tigers basketball team seasons