MANILA, Philippines – Former UST and Chooks-to-Go head coach Aldin Ayo has denied early reports that he has accepted the head coaching job of the PBA’s Converge FiberXers in a Facebook post on Tuesday, August 9.
“I’m surprised. Things are happening so fast. I have not made any formal commitment to Converge. This might just be like the rumored college schools coaching that did not materialize,” he wrote, referring to a link to him and the San Beda coaching gig that eventually went to Yuri Escueta.
”I am preoccupied at the moment with the chemotherapy of my mother, but I am flattered that I’m being considered as the head coach of the Converge FiberXers. This would be a big challenge and opportunity for any basketball coach, but I would like to seriously talk to my mother about it before deciding,” he continued.
Ayo recently made headlines after ending a two-year stint as the head trainer of the Chooks 3×3 national team regularly sent to FIBA events abroad. The two-time collegiate champion said he would dedicate time to taking care of his mother, who has been stricken with stage four cancer.
Hours before news of his reported move to the PBA broke, Ayo posted an Instagram story of him heading to the St. Luke’s Medical Center.
If the 44-year-old tactician eventually does take the job, this will be his first foray into the PBA after stops with the NCAA’s Letran Knights, the UAAP’s La Salle Green Archers and UST Growling Tigers, the MPBL’s Bicol Volcanoes, and Chooks 3×3.
Earlier during the day, Converge already announced that it was letting go of head coach Jeffrey Cariaso after just one conference with the new franchise that took over the retired Alaska Aces.
Ayo is still serving an indefinite ban from the UAAP following his involvement with UST’s controversial Sorsogon training bubble at the height of the first pandemic lockdowns in 2020. – Rappler.com
