By Brian Yalung
La Salle Green Hills Greenies formally appointed Karl Santos as the team’s next head coach. He replaces Marvin Bienvenida who will now focus on being the school’s Athletic Director. He coached LSGH for three years.
Karl Santos is not actually a new face on the La Salle side. He has served as Bienvenida’s assistant for several years now. In fact, he says that only small changes are to be made since they pretty much run the same kind of system.
“Sa system naman kasi halos the same tinatawag namin ni coach Marv. Meron lang ako siguro kaunting dadagdag na plays," he said.
Karl Santos
One of the immediate things that Santos needs to do is to recruit new players. Left with only six players, Santos said that he plans to beef up the Greenies frontline with legitimate players at the 4 and 5 spot.
Joel Cagulangan, Joshua David and Inand Fornillos have graduated, leaving a huge void on the Greenies Roster.
David will be suiting up for the DLSU Green Archers next season while Fornilos has moved to Ateneo.
Santos is left with only one legit big man in Jesse Arciaga. RC Calimag son of former PBA player Ricky Calimag) and Francis Lopez are natural wingmen but have been forced to play the power forward position for the Greenies.
Other returning Greenies include Kobe Palencia, Jacob Cortez (son of PBA player Mike Cortez) and Lennox Valenzuela.
“For now, medyo aggressive kami when it comes to recruitment. Yung mga natitira namin is mostly 16 years old pero talented naman for long term. So yung baak ko i-recruit, yung mga may experience at size para lang ma-balance,” said Santos in an exclusive interview with Manila Bulletin Sports.
The 32-year-old coach added that they may be adding some homegrown talent. But his concern is their age.
“Yung mga natira naman, very promising. Yung mga madadagdag naman from our home grown, promising din. But the problem is medyo bata pa sila,” he explained.
“Kaya sabi ko nga, if we want to compete against favored teams like San Beda na may 18-19 year old players, medyo kelangan namin mag-recruit ng experienced players,” Santos added.
With the exodus of players on the LSGH end, Santos is undaunted by the task of recruiting a competitive team in a span of just 3 to 4 months.
“For me like kung ano sinasabi ko sa mga boys, it’s still possible. It’s gonna be hard but it’s still possible,” Santos ended.