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Aldin Ayo willing to return to UST Tigers – report

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Coach Aldin Ayo of UST reacts to a call during game 2 of their best-of-three matchup against Ateneo at the Mall of Asia Arena on November 20, 2019. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/FILE PHOTO" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/sports/04/22/20191120-admu-ust-uaap-game-2-md-1310.jpg"/><figcaption>Coach Aldin Ayo of UST reacts to a call during game 2 of their best-of-three matchup against Ateneo at the Mall of Asia Arena on November 20, 2019. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/FILE PHOTO</figcaption></figure></div>The multi-titled coach Aldin Ayo is ready to return to the Tigers’ lair should his ban from the UAAP be lifted soon. In an exclusive <a href="https://varsitarian.net/sports/basketball/20220422/can-coach-ayo-return-to-rescue-hapless-tigers">report of The Varsitarian</a>, the official publication of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), Ayo said he is willing to head the Growling Tigers anew to help the team form a winning mindset. “I am willing to go back to UST and help the team recover its character and winning ways,” Ayo told The Varsitarian after Ateneo de Manila University&#x27;s 50-point demolition of UST last April 21. “The UST team now [is composed of] mostly rookies. They need a steadying fulcrum now.”The Growling Tigers suffered a humiliating 101-51 loss to the defending champions – the biggest winning margin in the UAAP since statistics were digitized in 2003.UST also dropped to a 3-7 win-loss card with four games left in their schedule. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/21/22/ust-suffers-biggest-loss-in-uaap-since-2003">Ateneo condemns UST to biggest loss in UAAP since 2003</a></li></ul>Ayo, for his part, is grateful for the UST fans who have been asking for his return to the squad. “Thank you for the loyalty of all those who still want me back at UST. I hope for the best and hopefully the soonest possible as I really want to help the team,” he said. He is also planning to meet UST’s Rector, Fr. Richard Ang, O.P., personally to redeem himself to the Thomasian community.Ayo spearheaded the Tigers’ impressive run in Season 81 where the team finished as runner-up to Ateneo but had to overcome three do-or-die games in the Final 4 to reach the finals. However, he resigned as UST’s head coach in 2020 after holding a controversial training camp for the team in Sorsogon City, at a time when a COVID-19 pandemic forced government to ban any similar gatherings.The so-called &quot;Sorsogon bubble&quot; was inadvertently publicized when then UST star CJ Cansino announced he was joining University of the Philippines after he was apparently removed by Ayo from the squad.That incident snowballed, as other Tiger players left the squad and an investigation was launched by UST, the UAAP and even the Joint Administrative Order group consisting of several government agencies.Ayo was banned indefinitely from the UAAP after a body composed of the presidents of eight universities recommended sanctions against him for his role in the controversial bubble.The Varsitarian’s report also debunked previous articles that the lifting of the ban is in the hands of Ang.In its story, the collegiate publication interviewed a UST official who declined to be named. The source said it is the UAAP Board of Trustees (BOT) who has to make the decision about Ayo’s fate.“There’s no truth to the report that the UAAP BOT is just waiting for the signature of Father Ang for them to lift the ban. Walang ganoong condition na binigay ang UAAP BOT,” the source explained.“Kahit i-endorse [ng UST] si coach, nakadepende pa rin &#x27;yun sa UAAP BOT as a collegial body,” the official said. “It’s a collegial body so decisions should be decided by all. BOT ang magde-decide talaga, hindi si Rector.”<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/22/22/uaap-84-ust-fans-alumni-want-aldin-ayo-back-as-coach">UST fans, alumni want Ayo back as coach amid frustrating UAAP season</a></li></ul>It was also revealed that UST had appealed for the reconsideration of the ban twice already: in October 2, 2020 and August 24, 2021. An online petition has also been circulating around on social media to call for the lifting of Ayo’s ban in the UAAP. The petition on Change.org has reached 1,855 signatures, as of writing.

The multi-titled coach Aldin Ayo is ready to return to the Tigers’ lair should his ban from the UAAP be lifted soon. 