With the UAAP’s 73rd season set to launch on July 10, Sportacular will be fanning the flames of fandom by providing a quick backgrounder on each school on the days leading up to the tournament. First up – the Adamson University Soaring Falcons.
Standing tall along San Marcelino, Ermita, Adamson University serves as the nest of the Adamson Soaring Falcons. This private Catholic university has produced quite the number of names in the Philippine sporting world – Paeng Nepomuceno, Marlou Aquino, and Kenneth Duremdes are among the university’s most notable alumni athletes.
School History
Adamson University was founded on June 20, 1932 by a Greek immigrant, Dr. George Lucas Adamson. At the time, the school was known as the Adamson School of Industrial Chemistry. The modest one-classroom school soon found itself expanding into the Adamson School of Industrial Chemistry and Engineering 4 years later, and was granted university status in 1941. Since then, the school has been known as Adamson University (AdU).
AdU was originally located in Santa Cruz. As the school grew, it found itself relocated to San Miguel in 1933, and to Intramuros in 1941. After the events of World War II, AdU eventually settled in its current location in 1946.
Over the years, AdU has added courses in Architecture, Business, Education, Law, Liberal Arts, Pharmacy, Sciences, and Theology, diversifying its fields of expertise and producing top-level professionals through quality education.
On its diamond jubilee year, 2007, AdU was proclaimed a Historic Site by the National Historical Institute.
Adamson University in the UAAP
In 1952, the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) – then composed of Far Eastern University, National University, University of the Philippines, and University of Santo Tomas – extended a membership invitation to 4 schools: Adamson University, Manila Central University, University of the East, and University of Manila. The schools were accepted under a 2-year probationary status. Unfortunately, only UE was permanently accepted after the probationary period. AdU and the other universities failed to meet the requirements for permanent entry into the UAAP.
Nearly 30 years later, in 1970, AdU decided to try its luck once again. The UAAP granted it a second 2-year probationary period, and after successfully hosting the 1974-75 season, AdU finally became a permanent member of the association.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing from there, however, as controversy surrounded the school in 1994. It was discovered that one of AdU’s premiere men’s basketball players, Marlou Aquino, was fielded despite academic ineligibility. As a result, AdU was suspended from the UAAP in the 1994-95 season. Fortunately, no such issues have come to surface since then, and AdU’s blue and white have been a familiar fixture in the UAAP to this day.
UAAP Successes
Adamson certainly isn’t a slouch in the UAAP, having garnered dozens of accolades across various sports. To date, the school has won 60 league championships:
Basketball – Men’s: 1 (1977)
Basketball – Women’s: 5 (1986, 1993, 2003-04, 2009)
Basketball – Juniors’: 7 (1977, 1988-93)
Baseball: 11 (1986-87, 1989, 1991-93, 1997-98, 2007-09)
Beach Volleyball – Women’s: 1 (2009)
Chess – Men’s: 4 (1985, 1987-88, 1990)
Chess – Boys’: 3 (2007-09)
Softball: 9 (1997-2000, 2003-06, 2008)
Table Tennis – Men’s: 1 (1989)
Table Tennis – Boys’: 1 (1996 – tied with UE)
Tennis – Men’s: 6 (1984-86, 1987 – tied with UST, 1988, 1991)
Track and Field – Men’s: 3 (1989-91)
Track and Field – Women’s: 2 (1990-91)
Track and Field – Juniors’: 1 (1998)
Volleyball – Men’s: 3 (1982-84)
Volleyball – Women’s: 2 (1960, 1969)
What to Look Forward to
Adamson University is at its most dominant in the bat sports, having won the last 3 baseball championships, and winning 6 of the last 10 softball titles. Look for AdU to continue its success in the diamond.
AdU’s boys’ chess team has been on a rampage as of late, as the woodpushers conquered the competition in the past three years. They show no signs of slowing down en route to a fourth straight championship.
AdU’s women’s basketball team is going to try to add to last year’s successful championship run led by Analyn Almazan, a national team member and current reigning MVP of both the UAAP and the Philippine Women’s Basketball League’s (PWBL) elite division. After stunning the top-seeded FEU Lady Tamaraws in last season’s finals, and taking the PWBL elite division championship earlier this year, the Lady Falcons will attempt to build on that momentum - even without Almazan’s services - and score a back-to-back triumph in the UAAP.
Though their only championship in the men’s basketball competition came 33 years ago, the Adamson University Soaring Falcons are widely regarded as one of the teams headed for the Final Four this year. With mercurial guard Leo Canuday being the team’s only major loss, the Falcons are banking their success on veterans Jerick Canada, Lester Alvarez, Alex Nuyles, Jan Colina, and Michael Galinato. A new addition to their frontcourt – the 6’6” Kenyan Austin Manyara – may prove to be a worthwhile project. Six-foot Guamanian William Stinett might be the glue to this lineup, as the versatile cager is capable of playing the 1, 2, and 3 spots.
How will Adamson University fare in the 2010-11 season of the UAAP? Stay with Sportacular and find out.