The Perpetual Help Altas have vowed to be in the thick of the fight in the coming Season 99 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
“One thing for sure is that the team will be very competitive this Season 99. We have seasoned players na, they have all played in the NCAA already. It’s a very good season for Team Altas, to get a win and win the first game,” Perpetual Altas head coach Michael ‘Myk’ Saguiguit said.
After finishing seventh with a 7-11 win-loss record in NCAA Season 98, the Altas will be getting a big boost from PBA MVP, Gilas Pilipinas standout and Perpetual alumnus Scottie Thompson, who has been providing sponsors like World Balance and YM Cargo to the team.
“We are now in our final stage of our preparations for defensive and offensive moves and conditioning,” Saguiguit added.
With the exit of four players, Kim Aurin, Lean Martel, Jef Egan and Steven Flores, who finished their playing years, Saguiguit hopes to rely on 14 holdovers and four rookies, namely Angelo Gelsano, Justin Thompson and Bryle Mascariñas from the Junior Altas and Joshua Ramirez, from Adamson University.
The holdovers include seasoned players, namely 5th year Jielo Razon (Team Captain) and Jasper Cuevas; NCAA Season 98 Defensive Team member Mark Denver Omega; FilOil Ecooil 2023 pre-season mythical team member Pampanga native Arthur Roque II and Cyrus Nitura; Carlo Ferreras; Joey Barcuma; John Cedric Abis; and JP Boral.
The Las Piñas City-based squad will also bank on backcourt holdovers Nathaniel Sevilla, Jearico Nuñez, Christian Pagaran, Shawn Orgo and Richard Movida.
“We were running a system in Seasons 97 and 98, we only used it a bit. It was a little short, but for now we will stick with the system, so one of the players will come out to score and play good defense, even with the second and third stringers,” Saguiguit added.