UC optimistic despite opting to go all local this season

THE UNIVERSITY of Cebu (UC) Webmasters are hoping that their decision to go all local may pay off in the upcoming Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc.(Cesafi) season that starts this Saturday.

Two years after getting their last taste of the championship, the Webmasters are still struggling to adapt to life without Junemar Fajardo. And the search for a distinct identity continues with this season.

Long-time team manager and one of the Cebu basketball’s most-recognized and respected personalities, Atty. Baldomero “Merong” Estenzo, bared that the squad might be years off from making it back to the league’s elite in the wake of the departure of not just Fajardo, who eventually became the PBA’s top draft pick last year, but also star guard, Brian Heruela, who has already exhausted his playing eligibility and is now showcasing his skills in the PBA D-League with the Big Chill Superchargers.

Estenzo remained confident that his squad will compete to the best of their abilities led by Jan Auditor and the comebacking Kim Gomez, UC’s last two vital links to their championship years in 2010 and 2011.

As has been their staple during the post Fajardo-era, the Webmasters will be looking to overwhelm their opponents with their accurate perimeter shooting, something that UC has loads of weapons for in Gomez, Auditor, sophomore Kido Cabrera and rookies Noel Villanueva and Christian Tanparong.

UC toyed with the idea of recruiting a foreigner to keep up with the likes of Southwestern University, University of the Visayas and the University of San Carlos, all of whom have two imports each. They tried it out during the preseason’s Partner’s Cup when they fielded Arnaud Noah. However, that experiment eventually did not pan out.

“Mr. (Augusto) Go suggested that we get an import to keep up with the other teams. But I’m really against that since it is my belief that for every roster spot that we give to an import, we are depriving one Filipino of a chance at a good education. After all, the players we have aren’t well-off and they really rely on their scholarships,” said Estenzo./Correspondent Jonas Panerio