Monday, February 25, 2008 USC, SWU back out of NSBC; UV stays
DESPITE stern the stern warning given by Basketball Association of the Philippine-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, Cebu’s most sought-after team University of the Visayas will push through with its bid in the National Schools Basketball Championship, which starts tomorrow.
The UV Green Lancers will play the University of Luzon at the Cebu Coliseum in the main game at 7 p.m. tonight.
Two other Cebu schools, the Asian College of Technology and the University of San Carlos backed out of the event, which is organized by BAP.
BAP is no longer the national governing body for basketball as Fiba has already recognized BAP-SBP.
However, the new group is still in a quandary as BAP still continues to organize competitions and in the process, invites BAP-SBP members to join their events, causing confusion and rift among members.
The other day, BAP-SBP executive director Patrick Gregorio issued a stern warning on UV, threatening them that if they force their way, they might suffer consequences in the future.
Future events
Gregorio said that UV might not be invited in future competitions of BAP-SBP.
On this note, a source, who asked for anonymity, said there is a chance that UV could no longer join the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc., which is a stakeholder of BAP-SBP.
If worse comes to worse, it might hurt UV’s chances of defending their Cesafi title, which they kept for seven straight years.
Yesterday, Gregorio said that they are reaching out to UV and is pleading for them to help out the national sports association.
“SBP president Manny Pangilinan is reaching out to UV to please help us and support the NSA for the sake of our national programs,” Gregorio said.
Cabahug said that one of the main reasons that they want to join is to play for Cebu.
The competition will be joined by different schools from all over the nation and UV stands a good chance of bringing home the bacon for the home fans.
Last year, UV finished second in the Collegiate Championship League, which also attracted some of the country’s toughest teams. As the National Schools Basketball Championship will be staged in Cebu, it makes UV hungrier to finally win a national title in front of home fans. (MCB)
