Jack Santiago spent decades as Franz Pumaren’s top deputy. Now spearheading UE’s resurgence, Santiago has his mentor rooting for him from the sidelines.
Long before spearheading the UE Red Warriors, Jack Santiago was the top assistant of legendary UAAP coach Franz Pumaren dating back to 2002 with the La Salle Green Archers featuring Mike Cortez, Willy Wilson, and Joseph Yeo.
Santiago was Pumaren’s lieutenant when he won his last title with La Salle in 2007, and when he guided Adamson to Final Four contention in the late 2010s. This partnership also reached the PBA, when Pumaren coached the now-defunct Air21 Express from 2011 to 2014.
The former Sta. Lucia guard is now in his fourth season as UE’s mentor, steering them to their best start in years with a 5-3 record after eight games played. The Red Warriors also hold solo third in the current Final Four picture under Santiago’s tutelage.
Pumaren has since shifted to a full-time political career, but has made it a point to catch some UAAP games this season. Besides UP and La Salle’s fiery rematch, you might have seen the mentor catch UE’s comeback win against Ateneo, and their Round 2 opener against La Salle last October 12.
“You know, I’m so happy that he’s showing his true worth. I think he’s reaping now the dividends of him being my assistant coach for the longest time,” Pumaren told The GAME in an exclusive interview. “And it shows. He’s running his team quite well, very disciplined in spite of…You cannot compare his team man for man with the top two teams which is La Salle and UP.”
“I think he’s doing a tremendous job in spite of him having a very young team, a young core. I think he’s really maximizing whatever talent that’s being offered to him in terms of the ability of these players,” Pumaren added.
UE has shown signs of life under Jack Santiago, starting with a 5-9 finish in his second year last Season 85. Season 87 is turning out to be a remarkable run, given that his Warriors lost a number of players led by Mythical Five guard Rey Remogat.
After two straight losses to open the season, the Red Warriors turned things around to finish the first round on a five-game winning streak. While they ended up falling to La Salle to open Round 2, it was nonetheless a winnable game for the Red Warriors.
Santiago is also defying preseason projections that saw UE as a bottom-tier team due to their player losses. But as we’ve all seen, UE’s holdovers took this as a challenge to step up their games instead.
“In fact, I’ve been reading na sinasabi nga at the start of the season, the last placed team will be UE raw. And I think he’s [Jack Santiago] is proving them wrong…As long as you have a very good admiral navigating the ride, I think they will really compete,” said Pumaren.
Pumaren reiterated UE’s discipline, which allows them to adhere to Santiago’s game plan even in high-pressure situations. Again, there’s the coaching staff’s ability to maximize the strength of its entire roster.
Led by Precious Momowei and Wello Lingolingo, just about everybody in Recto can come up big when needed. John Abate had his breakout against La Salle in Round 1, while Rain Maga came up big in the endgame against Ateneo.
“They maximize the strength of each player and they hide ‘yung sa tingin mong weakness…And if you notice it, in every situation, they know how to handle it. You know? I think UE is just about two or three players away from playing in the Finals,” Pumaren said.
Jack Cruz-Dumont, Gjerard Wilson, and Ethan Galang are among the Red Warriors’ graduating players for Season 87. Cruz-Dumont has remained impactful beyond his scoring, while Galang is one of UE’s main snipers. Wilson, meanwhile, is a slasher who can provide much-needed points for the Red Warriors.
Despite this, Franz Pumaren sees a bright future for UE. After all, he’s seen how impactful Santiago’s coaching is in terms of unleashing his players’ untapped potential. So in losing some key contributors, will come in new and developed talents courtesy of his longtime deputy’s abilities.
“By next year, I think they will be a very good team in spite of them losing several key players, it shows to you na in college basketball, coaching plays a major role,” the four-time UAAP champ said.
Banner image courtesy of the UAAP Media Bureau.