DOLREICH “BO” PERASOL resigned as head coach of the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons amid uncertainty on the return of collegiate basketball with the Covid-19 pandemic still prevailing.
“It’s my personal decision…a very hard decision…because we started this program,” Perasol told BusinessMirror from Anilao, Batangas, where he went scuba diving on Thursday. “My wife and I also need to focus on our pre-school in Biñan.”
Perasol’s wife Reina owns the Haven of Learning Development Inc. in San Jose Village in Biñan.
“I really have to [resign]. So we agreed to move on and move forward,” Perasol added.
UP and the seven other members of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines are maintaining their varsity teams although the league has yet to clarify whether or not it would hold its 84th season this year. Season 83 was canceled in pandemic year 2020.
Perasol said the decision to leave his alma mater, which he coached for five years, was a difficult choice. The pandemic, he stressed, was a huge impact on his decision citing the absence of collegiate leagues for almost two years.
“I already wanted to resign in Season 81, I wanted to rest, but they requested me to stay until Season 82, and then they asked me for another year,” he said. “But it’s been more than one year that there’re no collegiate leagues.”
Perasol has a 30-32 win-loss record in his four years with UP. He coached the Maroons to the Season 81 UAAP Finals—the school’s first championship appearance in 21 years—but lost to Ateneo. A season later, he steered the Maroons to the semifinals but lost to the University of Santo Tomas Tigers.
“We have gotten this far in just four seasons under my helm, that is unprecedented in fact,” he said. “But the team still needs better plans as always, and a reboot.”
College of Human Kinetics Dean Francisco “Kiko” Diaz on Thursday clarified that the university did not fire Perasol.
“Regrettably, he wants the team to have a fresh start next season under a new head coach, with all the new players now. A ‘reboot’ as he said,” Diaz said. “We even asked him to stay with us in a different capacity.”