The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has appointed Vincent “Chot” Reyes anew to take over the Gilas Pilipinas Men’s Basketball team.
Due to the delays caused by the pandemic, an overlap in schedules between the coming UAAP season and preparations for the FIBA World Cup 2023 Qualifiers forced coach Tab Baldwin to step down from his duties as Gilas Pilipinas head coach so that he can focus on the Ateneo Men’s basketball team.
Reyes will take over the national team starting today, Feb. 1, 2022.
“Chot is the sensible choice to take over Gilas coaching because he is very familiar with the program. He also has solid experience in international competition and FIBA games,” SBP Chairman Emeritus Manuel V. Pangilinan said via the SBP website.
“Considering the high-level performance expected of Gilas, we decided to go with the coach who brought the country back to the FIBA World Cup in 2014,” SBP President Al S. Panlilio added.
The SBP respects Baldwin’s decision thanking him for his valuable contributions to the Gilas program.
Reyes is aware of the daunting challenge ahead but stresses that he will not turn down calls for him to serve the country once more.
“It will be an honor to serve the country again. It is a big challenge pero hindi ko matatalikuran ang tawag ng bayan,” Reyes stated. bny -ag
