“We stand by our decision and if this is our fate, we accept it. He will not play. We’re very sad but we have to do what’s right for the university.”
–Anton Montinola, UAAP President and FEU team manager
Andy Barroca was dropped out of the FEU Basketball team for good. The basis of the decision was the considered opinion of the coaching staff and all the players that team chemistry was not at its optimum. This was the highlight of FEU’s official statement regarding the recent controversy involving the school’s ace point guard Barroca, in an alleged game-fixing issue resulting to a dip in his performance during the La Salle and most importantly the Ateneo match which costs them the top seeding.
Barroca who usually averages 12.7 points a game, and 1.6 steals, performed uncharacteristically by scoring only 15 points combined from FEU’s last two games between La Salle and Ateneo. Not to mention Barroca’s sudden disappearances in the team’s practices. All these contributed to the school’s “hard decision” of terminating the services of Barroca from the basketball squad plus the fact that his teammates and the coaching staff disliked his performance. “The bottom line is that the team thought that they would no longer be successful playing with Mark (Andy Barroca) and he already accepted the decision,” explained by Mr. Anton Montinola.
Though he still has one playing year left in the UAAP, he will no longer be allowed to play for FEU. Athletic Director Mark Molina meanwhile stressed that FEU is not kicking out the beleaguered basketball star from the school, in fact his scholarship will continue until he finishes his studies until October next year.
The issue of game-fixing and other controversy is not new to FEU Basketball team during UAAP seasons, just last year cager Mac Baracael was shot, though not fatal in front of FEU in Morayta for some unknown reason. In 2007, JR Guerilla was likewise removed from the team early in the opening of UAAP as he involved himself to game-fixing.
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