For Paolo Hubalde, taking over UE's struggling men's basketball program is less about carrying a burden and more about restoring the pride he once felt wearing the Red Warriors uniform.
Interim head coach Hubalde inherits a UE team from former head honcho Chris Gavina that has not won a UAAP game since October 2024, with a 23-game losing streak hanging over the program.
The situation is difficult, to say the least.
UE opened UAAP Season 89 with losses to Ateneo, NU and FEU by 27, 20 and 23 points, respectively. The Red Warriors have also endured two dud seasons in the last five years, including Season 88 under Chris Gavina and Season 84 in 2022.
UE has not reached the UAAP Final Four since 2009, when the Red Warriors fell to the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the championship series.
For 15 years, the program has searched for the winning culture that once made UE one of the proudest teams in the league.
Now, Hubalde wants to bring some of that pride back.
"They really need to have pride. Pride in defense, pride in scoring. Pride in wearing that uniform," he said. "Back in our day, we were very proud. So when you enter floor, you know you're going to compete."
"I told them that they have to believe."
UE has won 18 UAAP men's basketball championships, tied for the second-most in league history. The Red Warriors also won a record-tying seven straight titles from 1965 to 1972, a dominant stretch that featured legends such as Robert Jaworski and coach Baby Dalupan.
Their most recent championship came in Season 48 in 1985, when Allan Caidic and Jerry Codiñera led the Red Warriors to the title. Caidic is now part of Hubalde's coaching staff as an active consultant.
Hubalde knows what that winning culture looked like because he lived it as a player at UE.
During his playing days from 2000 to 2004, Hubalde shared the court with Paul Artadi, James Yap, Niño Canaleta and Ronald Tubid, players who would go on to become some of the country's most prominent basketball figures.
"Back then, we were really competing. You probably know that. So, that's what I want to tell them. We're all in this together," Hubalde said.
Now, he is tasked with instilling that same mentality into a much younger group.
UE's current roster is loaded with freshmen and sophomores, including Nur Datumalim, Cole Cruz-Dumont, Tope Lagat, Colby Vasquez and Dexter Santos.
The Red Warriors have also added two foreign student-athletes in JM Edoukou, the cousin of Gilas Pilipinas stalwart and former UAAP champion Ange Kouame, and Ola Ajani, a product of UST high school.
The opportunity to coach his alma mater and potentially establish a winning brand back to UE is personal.
"When UE calls, of course I would never ever miss a call. When UE calls for an opportunity, I'm grateful for that," he said. "I've been with these kids for the last two years. I know all their strengths. I know what they can do."
That familiarity could be one of Hubalde's biggest advantages as he tries to pull UE out of its long slide.
For a program that has spent years searching for its identity, Hubalde is asking for pride, belief and the willingness to compete.
The wins may not come immediately but Hubalde thinks the first step toward bringing UE back is already within the Red Warriors themselves.
"My job was to give positivity to the kids," Hubalde said. "Like what I said earlier, I want to bring the best out of them."