Former Rain or Shine head coach Chris Gavina is all set for the UAAP in Season 88 with the UE Red Warriors.
Chris Gavina’s coaching return to the Philippines comes with the added challenge of steering a contending UE squad as the Red Warriors look to finally snap their Final Four drought in UAAP Season 88.
Before finding his way to UE, Gavina was a fixture on the PBA sidelines with Mahindra and Rain or Shine.
He also ventured into coaching abroad, notably in Taiwan with the Taichung Suns in the T1 League and the Taiwan Mustangs of The Asian Tournament.
Now that he enters the UAAP basketball scene for the first time, Gavina said that he is ready to take on whatever.
“For sure. It's always a challenge when you're going up against other great minds,” Gavina told One Sports during the Content Day of UAAP Season 88.
“I dealt with it my first year in Taiwan, dealing with European coaches, Australian coaches, American coaches, and now with all the amount of knowledge that all these different programs are learning from abroad. I know UP has gone to Serbia, has gone to Europe, Ateneo went to Spain, UST is in Korea right now, so the challenge is there.”
Chris Gavina starts his UAAP journey in Season 88 with the UE Red Warriors. Photo: RM Chua
Gavina is flanked by more than a few experienced basketball minds — including nine-time PBA champion Alex Cabagnot, Paulo Hubalde, KG Canaleta, and Melvin Reyes.
Still, the dark cloud that hovers over his initial campaign is UE's playoff drought as the Red Warriors have not made the Final Four since 2009.
Though acknowledging that it is a difficult task, Gavina is more than delighted to push his players to the next level.
“It's a privilege, to be honest with you, to be one of those coaches that's going to have to try to obviously outsmart these current amazing coaches in the UAAP, but that's what I signed up for, and I'm looking forward to it,” he said.
Coming off of a UAAP Season 87 stint where the team fell painstakingly short of a semis spot, Gavina knows that he’ll just have to relate his own brand of basketball with the team and hopefully it pays off.
“Obviously, it's never easy to come in and inherit a new team, but it's been extremely rewarding seeing our guys embrace our new culture based on courage, high character, attitude, and respect."
"These are tenets that are very pure examples of what a warrior should be, and these guys have been embracing it day by day, month by month,” he said.
“This accumulation of days for us has really come to fruition in regard to everybody except in our new system. We're truly excited for UAAP starting in two more weeks.”
In UAAP Season 87, UE finished 5th with a 6-8 slate. The Red Warriors last made the Final Four when they headed all the way to the Finals with Paul Lee leading the charge.