Ex-Tall Blacks coach Tab Baldwin’s military-style training methods under microscope after player deaths

Former Tall Blacks coach Tab Baldwin’s military-style bootcamps designed to “break the men” have come under the microscope after the deaths of two college basketball players in the Philippines this week.

Ateneo Blue Eagles players, Divine Adili, 21, and Rene Baterbonia, 19, drowned during a team-building swimming exercise in Dipaculao, Aurora, on Monday, the Ateneo de Manila University confirmed.

Local police said “initial findings indicate that the victims were swimming when they were reportedly carried by a strong current into deeper waters”.

The tragedy has caused comments from former players to resurface about what happens during the bootcamps, including an instance where one “almost” drowned during a drill in the sea.

Former Blue Eagles players recalled being taken to a resort in Aurora where their cellphones were taken away, sirens sounded as early as 3am to wake them up, and players who couldn’t swim were made to do exercises in the sea.

In an interview on Filipino basketball podcast Balyahan late last year, former Blue Eagles player Shaun Ildefonso said it was “like a military camp”.

“It’s like bootcamp, we’re on the beachfront,” he said. “It was called ‘hell week’. It was like [reality TV show] Survivor.”

“We’ll be together for a week and then you don’t know when you’ll wake up,” another former player Mike Nieto said in a different podcast episode.

Nieto recalled an incident where a teammate who couldn’t swim “almost had an accident” during one of the training drills in the ocean, with Baldwin ending up having to save him.

“He’s supposed to run on the sand and swim around, [but] our veteran doesn’t know how to swim. Coach Tab was the one who saved him because he was afraid because he almost had an accident with the player.”

Ildefonso also recalled the same incident where the player “almost” drowned.

The players said it tested their resolve and commitment to the team, ultimately building bonds with their teammates.

After the Blue Eagles’ title-winning run in 2017, Baldwin said the camp was designed to “break the men”.

Baldwin said the training camp was inspired by legendary American college football coach Bear Bryant.

“His very famous work is a camp that he had in 1954 for his Texas A&M football team,” Baldwin said. “And the design of the camp was to develop a football team with the emphasis on ‘team’.

“It was built around the fact that it’s very difficult for young men who are at the height of their playing prowess, all of whom had egos that are fed by loving parents, adoring girlfriends, adoring fans, victories along the way. And these egos needed to be broken down to the whole.

“The best way to do that is break the men and reduce him to a state where he can’t do things on his own and he requires the assistance of others in order to accomplish something. We designed physical and mental tasks at the camp which are essentially designed to do that – break the men.”

“If they had told us about this kind of training, I would never have allowed my son to go,” Baterbonia’s mother Rovelyn said on Facebook in reaction to Nieto’s comments.

“We were not informed about it. My child is not a soldier. Basketball training should be in the court, not in the sea.”

According to local media reports, Police Colonel Percival R. Pineda said about 20 Blue Eagles players and staff were having a team-building exercise in front of a resort about 2.40pm local time when the players who died were dragged out to sea.

It is unclear if Baldwin was present at the time of the incident. The Herald has been unable to reach Baldwin for comment.

Attorney Israelito Torreon, on behalf of Baterbonia’s family, is seeking an order from the Philippines Department of Justice to ensure Baldwin does not leave the country during investigations into the deaths, the Daily Tribune reports.

“We are not saying that he has any liability here,” Torreon said.

The Philippines Department of Justice has launched an investigation, while an inquiry into the university’s athletic programme and its safety standards is also underway.

Local authorities ruled out foul play and described the deaths as “purely accidental”.

American-Kiwi Thomas “Tab” Baldwin was the Tall Blacks coach during a successful period from 2001 to 2006, leading the side to a historic fourth place at the 2002 Fiba World Championship.

Baldwin was appointed an Honorary Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2003 New Year Honours and was twice named coach of the year at the Halberg Awards.

He was inducted into the NZ Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023.