Romwel Anzures

New University of the East head coach Chris Gavina during a practice session of the Red Warriors. Photo by Jose Raphael Gonzales, ABS-CBN News Intern.

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ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1758012725878IMG_8311.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="New University of the East head coach Chris Gavina during a practice session of the Red Warriors. Photo by Jose Raphael Gonzales, ABS-CBN News Intern."/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">New University of the East head coach Chris Gavina during a practice session of the Red Warriors. <em>Photo by Jose Raphael Gonzales, ABS-CBN News Intern.</em></span></span></span>MANILA — A shift in culture was one of new University of the East head coach Chris Gavina&#x27;s priorities when he entered the Red Warriors&#x27; program ahead of UAAP Season 88.</div><p>Coming off a year wherein the Recto-based cagers blew multiple chances to punch their Final 4 ticket after a 15-year drought, UE went through major changes -- one that started with the hiring of the former PBA mentor.</p><p>“It&#x27;s just all been all about growth right now and establishing habits of a winning culture,” the ex-Rain or Shine ElastoPainters and Kia franchise head tactician told ABS-CBN News.</p><p>“It’s been about setting our core values of making sure we always exemplify courage, a great deal of respect for the work and the game, positive attitude in everything we do, and of course, discipline and grit, being able to deal with adversity as it hits, that&#x27;s really been the journey so far,” he added.</p><p>In Season 87, the Red Warriors appeared poised to secure a postseason berth with a 6-3 record in the second round. But the team -- then coached by Jack Santiago -- went crashing as they lost five straight games from that point.</p><p>And with one final chance to chase the Final 4 through a playoff, they lost to Adamson University, 68-55, allowing the Soaring Falcons to overtake them for the semifinals spot.</p><p>As a former collegiate star himself with Stevens Institute of Technology — a school where he even earned a chemical biology degree from — Gavina understands that overcoming such struggles requires more than just figuring out the right formula and elements.</p><p>“It&#x27;s been challenging,” said Gavina, who is also his alma mater’s second all-time leading scorer, and who even has his jersey No. 30 retired by them. “With the limited time of recruitment and then inheriting this UE team that was one game away from Final 4 last year, it has been challenging.”<strong></strong></p><div><br/></div><div><strong>UAAP’s Best Defense</strong></div><p>Gavina’s prior experience of handling amateur squads came when he was a volunteer during his collegiate years, holding summer workouts for his Alma Mater in New Jersey.</p><p>And this, together with his track record in the PBA, is what helped him develop the foundation that he wants to lay for UE.</p><p>“The major difference between pro and college kids, in my opinion, is maturity,” he said. “At the pros, you&#x27;re already getting guys who are vets, who already have a high degree of maturity, and their skill sets are already evolved.”</p><p>“Here, you have to help grow their emotional IQ, their physical, and their mental aspects of the game that maybe they haven&#x27;t really experienced yet, as well as dealing with high expectations,” he added.</p><p>To start, the fiery mentor emphasized how he wants the Red Warriors to become the UAAP’s best defensive squad.</p><p>“There&#x27;s a great deal of talent in the UAAP,” he said. “But honestly, as long as we can stay in an aggressive state of mind, I feel we&#x27;ll be alright. You know, this is the era of 5-out basketball where it&#x27;s all about open space, so it makes it a lot more difficult defending all that space because of the amount of skill sets that guys have evolved to possess now.”</p><div>“So yes, we do have the mindset that we want to be the best defensive team. That&#x27;s always the identity I want to have as a coach. That&#x27;s how I grew up, being told that you should be able to win a game even if you&#x27;re having a bad offensive night. I learned that from the great coaches from Jersey City, from the Hurley family, UConn&#x27;s coach Dan Hurley. It just trickled down to me now, and I&#x27;m trying to inject it into our program,” he added.<br/><strong></strong><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1758012918937IMG_8312.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="New University of the East head coach Chris Gavina with team captain John Abate during a practice session of the Red Warriors. Photo by Jose Raphael Gonzales, ABS-CBN News Intern."/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">New University of the East head coach Chris Gavina with team captain John Abate during a practice session of the Red Warriors. <em>Photo by Jose Raphael Gonzales, ABS-CBN News Intern.</em></span></span></span><strong></strong><strong></strong></div><div><strong>Troika of Leaders</strong></div><p>To help him impose this mentality as well as understand what his players need, Gavina has leaned on his trio of team captains: Precious Momowei, John Abate, and Wello Lingolingo.</p><p>He said that the three stars, while still also embracing their respective role as leaders, have been leading by example over the offseason, showing that a full trust in their shift in culture is needed to turn things around in Recto.</p><p>“Them being in their comfort zone of what they were used to, the standard that they were accustomed to, they weren&#x27;t exactly on par with mine when I first came in,” acknowledged Gavina. “And there were a lot of ups and downs in regards to that, establishing a championship culture, but now, with five months of settling in, recognizing and accepting their roles, I feel we&#x27;ve come a long way in regards to saying that we&#x27;re ready.”</p><div>“They&#x27;re relatively young, in my opinion, in regard to setting and also being examples of my high standards,” he said of Abate and Lingolingo. “But I told them: ‘I can&#x27;t label you guys as my best players if you&#x27;re not my hardest workers.’ If they&#x27;re showing bad attitude, if they&#x27;re not being disciplined, then it&#x27;ll trickle down to the rest of the team because they&#x27;re our leaders, who our underclassmen look up to. So, that&#x27;s something that they&#x27;re working on, and again, they&#x27;re embracing.”<br/><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1758012965958IMG_8314.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="University of the East head co-team captain Precious Momowei during a practice session of the Red Warriors. Photo by Jose Raphael Gonzales, ABS-CBN News Intern."/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">University of the East head co-team captain Precious Momowei during a practice session of the Red Warriors. <em>Photo by Jose Raphael Gonzales, ABS-CBN News Intern.</em></span></span></span>He then hailed Momowei, who — despite having a history of getting emotional on court — has transformed himself into someone the Red Warriors can absolutely look up to.</div><p>“Watching his game from last year, and even in the beginning of this process, he was highly volatile,” Gavina shared. “So I had to first build a relationship, build trust with him, making sure he knew that whatever I tell him, whatever position I put him in, it&#x27;s always in my best intentions, towards his best intentions, and towards the best representation of our program.”</p><p>“And he&#x27;s embraced it. He knows that a lot of the success of this team is on his shoulders, and it&#x27;s something that he&#x27;s taken day by day. He&#x27;s improved extremely well, and I&#x27;ll tip my hat off to him for that.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Honoring the past to embrace the future</strong></div><p>Aside from the help of his players, Gavina did his part in immersing himself in UE’s rich history.</p><p>In addition to having former Red Warriors stars KG Canaleta and Paolo Hubalde as members of his stacked coaching staff which also includes former San Miguel Beermen Alex Cabagnot and Louie Vigil, Gavina also met with some of the last batch of UE men’s basketball champions.</p><div>Last August 2, their former stars Allan Caidic, Jerry Codinera, and Boycie Zamar among others, together with their champion coach Jimmy Mariano paid their alma mater a visit, and Gavina said that this added to their fire of trying to revive the success of their program.<br/><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1758013226117IMG_8319.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="University of the East’s UAAP Season 48 men’s basketball championship banner. Photo by Jose Raphael Gonzales, ABS-CBN News Intern."/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">University of the East’s UAAP Season 48 men’s basketball championship banner. <em>Photo by Jose Raphael Gonzales, ABS-CBN News Intern.</em></span></span></span>“Everyone knows better what&#x27;s at stake,” said Gavina. “When we did our meet and greet with our 1985-1986 team, I picked their brains, but I also wanted our players to see that this is who you&#x27;re representing. This is who&#x27;s wishing that we end this Final 4 drought, because they don&#x27;t want to be known as the last UE team to win a championship.”</div><p>“They want another banner up there for this university, and sometimes, you gotta celebrate the past to inspire and motivate the future, so I hope that translates to this season. I&#x27;m becoming repetitive to them, but I told them: ‘It wasn&#x27;t about money. It wasn&#x27;t about incentives or bonuses.’ It was just about being able to reward UE for the trust, the scholarship, and the opportunity to attend this great school,” he added. <strong></strong></p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Beyond basketball</strong></div><p>While Gavina has put all of his cards into helping UE revive its hoops program, he said that his players’ lives outside the court are also a top priority for him.</p><p>“I&#x27;ve explained to them that my number one goal is to make them better people,” he emphasized. “Second, if I can help them improve as basketball players, then that&#x27;s just cherry on top. If they can come out feeling they&#x27;ve become better leaders, self-thinkers who carry that UE pride with them whenever they leave this place, then I&#x27;ve done my job.”</p><p>The Red Warriors open their UAAP Season 88 campaign on Sunday, September 21, 1:00 p.m., when they face National University at the University of Santo Tomas Quadricentennial Pavilion.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS:</strong></div><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAFz8gWM8iRADsJr&amp;cid=ABhIr-VA6SAAkJ5y"></script><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAFz8gWM8iRADsJr&amp;cid=ABhIv5gqh8poWoMH"></script>

<p>#UAAPSeason 88 Preview | "There were a lot of ups and downs in regards to that, establishing a championship culture. But now, with five months of settling in, recognizing and accepting their roles, I feel we've come a long way in regards to saying that we're ready.”</p>

#UAAPSeason 88 Preview | "There were a lot of ups and downs in regards to that, establishing a championship culture. But now, with five months of settling in, recognizing and accepting their roles, I feel we've come a long way in regards to saying that we're ready.”

UAAP: Will UE’s shift in culture finally translate into Red Warriors’ revival?

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UAAP: Will UE’s shift in culture finally translate into Red Warriors’ revival?

Rom Anzures,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 16, 2025 07:05 PM PHT

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Updated Sep 16, 2025 07:48 PM PHT

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UAAP Season 88

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Chris Gavina

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John Abate

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