De Jesus loses track of winning record

De La Salle University head coach Ramil de Jesus is so used to winning that he has already lost count of how many opponents his Lady Spikers had vanquished throughout the years.

Luckily, some keep tabs on how many victories the legendary tactician collected.

De Jesus reached another milestone in his illustrious career after notching his 300th win as La Salle mentor on Saturday in a fitting welcome to the Lady Spikers’ title defense in the University Athletic Association Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament.

La Salle welcomed its no-nonsense coach’s 27th year of service with a masterful crushing of hapless Adamson University, 25-16, 25-16, 25-18, at the Mall of Asia Arena in a statement win that sent shivers down the spines of teams hoping to knock the squad off the throne.

Already holding the record of the longest-tenured head coach in the division, De Jesus downplayed his latest achievement as a mere product of his dedication to molding his players into elite athletes.

“I don’t keep count but maybe in my 27 years with La Salle, I did reach that many wins. Happy I got to win that many games but honestly, I didn’t know I’d already reached that number,” De Jesus said during the post-game conference.

De Jesus, the architect of the Taftbased squad’s 12 titles, last year only sat on the Lady Spikers bench starting in the second round.

“For me, I want to get my players in top condition and get them to perform at their best. That is enough for me, I don’t focus on counting how many wins I get,” the mentor said.

De Jesus so far has a 300-81 win-loss career record.

Reigning Most Valuable Player and last season’s Rookie of the Year Angel Canino was stoked to be a part of her mentor’s achievement.

Canino blasted a game-high 14 points to pace the Lady Spikers’ balanced scoring.

“Amazing! As in, I couldn’t describe the feeling but when I heard about the 300 wins, I was so delighted that we got to be a part of it. Hopefully, more wins to come,” the sophomore winger said. But more than the number of wins and titles captured, De Jesus would just want to be remembered for his trademark discipline and the character he wants his players to develop.

“I just want people to remember me for being smart and meticulous, especially in uniform, I’m very particular in that aspect,” he said.

“I want to maintain that trademark that when you say La Salle you know that they are disciplined coming from the guidance of Coach Ramil. That they carry that trait and character inside and outside the court.”

De Jesus’ 300th win had no fanfare or ceremonial rites except for his granting the UAAP press corps a photograph with him holding a piece of bond paper with ‘300’ written along with his signature.

Just like what he said, he didn’t care about the numbers.

It was just another day at the office.