2010 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team

The Growling Tigers have lost Season 72 MVP and scoring leader Dylan Ababou as well as Khasim Mirza and Allein Maliksi to graduation, while Tiger Cubs and incoming college freshmen Kyle Neypes and Cedric Labing-isa, both of whom were shoo-ins to the UST Senior team decided to join the rival NU Bulldogs.[5]

This year's roster includes Season 72 Rookie of the Year Jeric Teng, three-point specialists Jeric Fortuna and Tata Bautista, and big man Chris Camus among a handful of veterans. Nearly half of the roster are rookies with Ilocos Norte standout Ed Daquioag who was a former high school teammate of Bautista and Cebuano guard Edcor Marata, who was named NBTC's Most Outstanding Player leading the pack.[6]

Subtractions

Pos.	#	POB	Player	Height	Year	High school	Notes
C	5		Darell John S. Green	6' 3"	2nd	Colegio de San Juan de Letran
SF	6		Dylan Simon R. Ababou	6' 3"	5th	Siena College of Quezon City	Graduated
SF	13		Hadi O. Rushdy	6' 3"	2nd	Colegio San Agustin
SF	14		Khasim Ali G. Mirza	6' 4"	5th	La Salle College Antipolo	Graduated
SG	17		Aljohn Gil P. Ungria	6' 1"	2nd	Colegio de San Lorenzo	Relegated to Team B
PF	18		Allein Gail Q. Maliksi	6' 4"	4th	Camarin High School	Graduated
SG	20		Andrew Joseph B. Felix	5' 11"	2nd	PAREF Southridge School
SF	21		Marco Martin M. Cam	6' 0"	2nd	San Sebastian College-Recoletos	Transferred to College of Saint Benilde

Additions

Pos.	#	POB	Player	Height	Year	High school	Notes
SF	5		Kim Kaizen G. Lo	6' 1"	1st	St. Jude Catholic School	Rookie
PG	6		Edcor C. Marata	5' 10"	1st	University of the Visayas	Rookie
C	13		Paulo Lorenzo V. Pe	6' 4"	1st	Ateneo de Manila	Rookie
C	14		Vincent Roberto P. Tinte	6' 7"	1st	Urdaneta City National High School	Transferred from Far Eastern University
SG	17		Fritz Harmon L. Delgado	6' 0"	1st	San Sebastian College-Recoletos	Rookie
SF	18		Eduardo D. Daquioag, Jr.	6' 1"	1st	RTU Laboratory High School	Rookie
C	20		Kenneth B. Mamaril	6' 5"	1st	San Sebastian College-Recoletos	From Team B
PG	21		Jackson V. Wong	5' 10"	2nd	Philippine Academy of Sakya-Manila	Returning from Season 71

In October 2009, speculations that head coach Pido Jarencio had been fired began to surface. This was related to the past unsuccessful seasons that followed their 2006 championship. Manila Bulletin had written an article about it on October 5, but IPEA officials, namely Director Fr. Ermito de Sagon and Assistant Director Mrs. Felicitas Francisco were quick to dismiss them as rumors. Jarencio's live contract will expire in March 2010 and from then officials will make an assessment of his tenure.[7] The coach himself dismissed the rumor during an interview in July. He had confirmed receiving offers from the NU Bulldogs, but also said that he "never thought of leaving UST unless they didn’t want him there anymore."[8]

Jarencio's contract was extended to December 2010.

According to Jarencio, "UST did not join the major preseason tournaments for fear it would affect the morale of the players." Another reason for skipping the summer tournaments, was the problems that they encountered in recruiting players. UST Tiger Cubs standouts Neypes and Labing-isa have decided to play for the National University Bulldogs after graduation and are currently undergoing residency.[9] Neypes was actually included in the Bulldogs' roster when they competed in the 2010 Filoil Preseason Cup.

Elimination games were played in a double round-robin format. All games were aired on Studio 23 & Balls.

Times listed above are in UTC+08:00

Because the Growling Tigers did not participate in any major summer preseason tournaments, they were not scouted by the other UAAP schools and were able to pull off wins early in the first round of eliminations. They were even third in the standings at 3–2 at one point late in the first round.

Like the other UST Growling Tigers teams, the 2010 squad had heavily relied on their three-point shooting, and when their shots had failed to connect, the losses began to pile up, mostly on double-digit deficits.

According to head coach Pido Jarencio, this team was more of a stop-gap in preparation for the university's quadricentennial celebration. "Some of the players I recruited are really made for 2011."

One of the players that he was referring to was incoming Cameroonian rookie Karim Abdul who had undergone a one year residency and will be able to suit up for the Tigers next season to beef up the team's short front line.

Jarencio who has a deep pool of players from the Team B training team, has plans for a major revamp on the current team. "If nothing happens (to UST) next year, I will exit the team," added the coach.[10]