With all the hoopla surrounding the ongoing UAAP Season 72 and NCAA Season 85, little attention has been given to the start of the so-called “other” leagues. Season 9 of the National Athletics Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities got underway in the middle of July with a total of 12 teams seeing action in the first semester basketball tournament with three divisions: men’s, women and juniors. Also underway is the first ever Universities and Colleges of Luzon Athletics Association Preseason Basketball Tournament with eight college teams taking part. And of course who can forget the indefatigable Fr Martin Cup Second Division under emerging hardcore hoops godfather Joey Lim that opened shop in the first weekend of August.

NAASCU Season 9 welcomed a new member-school in Our Lady of Fatima University. Using the moniker “Phoenix”, the Valenzuela-based school has put quite a legitimate scare into the hearts of the established teams of NAASCU. They are struggling with a 3-5 record but two of those losses came down to last minute possessions against current second-placer University of Manila in an out of town game in Subic, and Season 8 Final 4 team St Clare College. Their junior team remains unbeaten after three games, including a sound 70 – 64 victory over reigning junior division champion Informatics International College. “We hope to just compete in every game and of course just to take this tournament one game at a time both in the senior and junior divisions,” said coaching director and long-time coaching veteran Jose “Pepe” Sanchez.

Of course reigning champion San Sebastian College of Cavite remains the top team in NAASCU with an immaculate 8-0 record. Reigning most valuable player Kris Lucernas, the multi-talented 6-foot-2 forward, continues to lead the way for the Bay Cats of affable college president Fr Emil Jaruda. Five-time champion UM is carrying on in second place at 7-1 as of this writing. Season 7 champion STI College of team manager and Gameface legend Mhel Garrido is also hanging in there nearer the top of the leader board in spite of a couple of close losses.

NAASCU is looking at a long season with a single-round robin elimination round. After that, the last four teams will be dropped, and the eight remaining teams will go at it in another single-round robin. All records will be carried over from the eliminations to the “Elite 8”. A Final 4 will then ensue among the top four teams after the Elite 8, and after that a three-game Finale.

UCLAA decided to hold their first-ever preseason tournament in this first semester mainly in order to provide a venue for prospective member-schools to gauge themselves against some of the best teams of the fledgling league. UCLAA President and long-time St Francis of Assisi team boss Art Onas decided to hold the short preseason tournament at the historic San Andres Gym in Manila. “Gusto lang namin bigyan ng chance ang mga gustong sumali na makita kung anong klase competition dito sa UCLAA natin,” explained Onas in one organizational meeting. Hardcore powerhouses Manuel L Quezon University and Central Colleges of the Philippines have gotten off to strong starts in the preseason tournament. Both schools are seriously looking to join the UCLAA in its second season. Also showing strong interest is Far Eastern University-FERN, although they might not be able to join the junior division of the regular season since the FEU-FERN high school competes in the UAAP.

Fr Martin Cup action should be very strong in this second division, according to tournament director Joey Lim. In the organizational meeting held at the very old school Savory Chicken restaurant in Manila, Lim noted that this is the first time in a long while that almost all of the UAAP and NCAA schools will be fielding in their B Teams in the FMC Second Division. Apparently the UAAP and NCAA schools have undergone quite a bit of personnel stockpiling and now have competitive B Teams just itching to plunge into action. “Maganda naman ang naging response sa amin nung mga teams when we sent out our invitations,” Lim enthused during the organizational meeting.

Some of the players that might be seeing action in the two major college leagues soon will be cutting their teeth in this FMC Second Division. Mike Silungan of UP is already building a strong reputation as a certified gunner in FMC action, and will lead the State University B Team. Former Letran Knights Anjoe Latonio and Clarence Foronda are with the FEU B Team. 6-foot-5 dunker Sam Razon, once a star for the National College of Business and Arts, is now with the University of the East B Team. Norman Penola, a stocky 5-foot-11 combo-guard hyped as the next Mark Caguioa, will be donning the Marian blue and white of Ateneo De Manila’s Team Glory B. Former RP Youth Team 6-foot-5 forward-center Kyle Pascual is with San Beda’s Team Behold. Adamson will have a multi-national squad with slam-dunking 6-foot-6 Ghana native Austin Manara, and Guam natives 5-foot-11 Brian Stignette and brawny 6-foot-4 Randy Susuico all returning to FMC action as well. UST might have former FEU-FERN stars and one-time UP Fighting Maroons Dexter Rosales and Soc Rivera.

All told it should make for very interesting days ahead in the hardcore circuit, and a welcome respite from the media creations known as the UAAP and the NCAA. For those who are not too interested in seeing the so-called major leagues, and who want to catch what the unsung and unknown stars are doing, then I strongly suggest you come and watch the three hardcore tournaments. It is a basketball junkie’s dream come true: no long lines, no ticket hunts, no scalpers, no media frenzy, no overextended timeouts due to TV commercials. It is nothing but pure and unadulterated basketball, hardcore hoops at its finest.