Can The Tigers Growl Louder In Season 73?

From last year’s most promising newcomer, Jeric Teng will find himself as the unusual leader for a young University of Santo Tomas Tigers team in this season’s UAAP men’s basketball tournament.

That’s because the Tigers have lost a lot of players, including last season’s Most Valuable Player Dylan Ababou.

The 6-foot-3 Ababou, one of the mainstays of the Smart-Gilas national developmental team, won’t be eligible to play this season as he already graduated, leaving coach Pido Jarencio with no other choice, but to elevate Teng’s role as a leader.

Teng, whose dad Alvin was a member of San Miguel Beer’s grandslam team in 1989, will fill in the void left by by Ababou, sweet-shooting Khazim Mirza and Allen Maliksi

“We lost a lot of players, but we will not be lacking in prayers this season," said UST coach Pido Jarencio in jest.

UST is the only team without a senior player on its squad, which means it will keep its core intact in the next two or three years.

“They are young, but I hope they can step up. But Jeric Teng will be a great player because he is very brave," said Ababou.

Teng will also get help from third-year players -- point guard Jeric Fortuna and shooter Clark Bautista – as the Tigers will certainly need to get more production even from unlikely sources.

The Tigers will have 6-foot-7 Vince Tinte, a former member of the Far Eastern University Team B squad, and burly rookie Paulo Pe from Ateneo up front.

Despite the addition of these players, Jarencio believes they remain a small team and will have to do a lot of “gang rebounding."

Carmelo Afuang, Andre Marquez and Chris Camus are the other junior members of the team.

The rest of the members are composed of sophomores Aljon Mariano, Eduard Aytona and Jackson Wong, rookies Kim Lo from St. Jude, Eduardo Daquiaog, Fritz Delgado, Edcor Marata and Kenneth Mamaril.

Despite the lack of pieces he needs, Jarencio promised that the Tigers won’t play laid carpets against the other squads.

“Unlike other teams, which got the privilege of training overseas, our team concentrated on playing together almost everyday in practice. We didn’t have a team for the pre-season college tourneys, but we were able to build chemistry with our continuous practice sessions," added Jarencio, who guided the Tigers to the 2006 UAAP crown.

Rey Joble, GMA News TV