The UP Fighting Maroons Had to Reclaim Glory the Hard Way

This is a special edition of SIMOUN SAYS.

Photo: UAAP Media Team

Right after Game 3 of the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball final, I posted this on my Facebook wall:

My heart was filled with hard times when I posted that. But last night, I saw better men.

God, my eyes are welling up as I type this.

Since I’m leaning into the emotional side now—something I don’t go out of my way to do in this column where I strive my best to be analytical—I’ll go all the damn way.

During the pre-game coverage of Game 3, Fighting Maroons correspondent Cheska Ramos delivered a spiel that might as well have been a rallying cry for the UP faithful.

“Today, this is for every season UP wasn’t a contender, for the years of heartbreak when the dream felt so far away. It’s for the magic of Season 84 when JD Cagulangan’s clutch three-pointer ended 36 years of waiting, but it’s also for the pain of Seasons 85 and 86 when it was so close yet just out of reach.”

At that time, I was cutting up a piece of chicken to feed my two-year-old. But when Cheska said those words, I had to know who was slicing onions. Because I bawled.

I can’t even remember the last time that I cried like that—face buried in my palm, shoulders shaking violently. Those words spoke to the depths of Maroon sentiment, mired in decades of disappointment and (more recently) back-to-back seasons of unmet expectations.

So many things were on the line for UP last night. Would Goldwyn Monteverde become Doc Rivers, a coach whose legacy consists of more shortcomings than rings? Would Francis Lopez’s doubters and critics be validated in the picture they’ve painted of an overrated bust? Would the entire Fighting Maroons roster go the same way as other stacked UAAP programs in the past—loaded with talent but not enough championship hardware to show for their efforts?

Sometimes, I ask myself if these so-called “stakes” are legit. Maybe I, an ardent fan of the team, am just conjuring all these goalposts for UP in my head. Heaven knows what fans of other UAAP schools really think of the Maroons at this point.

When Harold Alarcon dove for the loose ball and hugged it for dear life with 4.6 seconds to go, all the questions—voiced out and imaginary—went away.

Now, Goldwyn Monteverde is the first head coach since Tab Baldwin to claim multiple men’s basketball titles—a feat that bolsters his legacy of consistent winning. Now, the Fighting Maroons roster built by program director Bo Perasol has converted their loaded talent on paper into two UAAP crowns over the past four seasons. (And, might I add: Now, Cagulangan and the one-and-done wonder that is Quentin Millora-Brown get to finish their stories as UAAP champions.)

As for Francis? As a fan, alumnus, and something of an analyst, I wanted him to take over. 

In the wake of that Season 86 Finals loss, I wrote about Lopez needing to be the focal point of UP’s attack when UAAP hostilities were renewed. This season, Lopez and the graduating Cagulangan gladly accepted the role of being the go-to guy for the team. When future generations play the highlights of this Season 87 conquest, they’ll be awestruck at the clutch three that Lopez hit to give UP a 64-60 cushion with 1:12 left.

Bear with my fanboying of Lopez for just another minute—I have just one more point to make. You see, that man embodies this entire redemption arc for the Fighting Maroons. 

We all know how academics in UP can get super tough, right? The student-athletes on the men’s basketball roster had to do some arduous learning of their own. The hardcourt was their classroom, and as far as instructors go, there was no shortage: top-tier opponents, coaches and scouts that scrutinized every weak point and injury, passionate fans that rooted for and against them.

The best learning resources were the games themselves. One painful lesson had to be taught and retaught: No lead is ever safe, especially against a generational player. Keep playing.

Mistakes—a prerequisite to learning, I suppose—were made in Game 3 of the Season 86 championship series and in Game 2 this past Wednesday. When the Fighting Maroons entered the Smart Araneta Coliseum on December 15, 2024, they had a chance to pass the exam that they’d failed twice over.

Ayun. Pumasa na nga.

The clincher: La Salle beat UP 73-69 in the final game of Season 86. On Sunday, UP defeated La Salle 66-62.

The Maroons lost by four last year. This time, they won by four.

What’s so special about the UP Fighting Maroons’ conquest of the UAAP title? Simoun says: They did it the hard way. They let hard times breed better men.