"He’s doing it for the school after all what the school has given him the last four years," said Trillo. "We (the school) are no longer coming out with an official statement regarding this because we don’t want to hype it too much."

"I personally talked with LA and he assured me that he is returning to play for Ateneo," added Trillo.

Now that Tenorio has put an end to speculations about his plans, Ateneo can now look forward to the coming UAAP season with lots of enthusiasm.

"I thought about it for a month. The PBA was an option," said Tenorio, 20, one of the country’s finest playmakers. "But there’s also my loyalty to the school. Coach (Norman) Black also convinced me to stay. He asked me to give him a chance to handle me for one year."

Black was appointed as head coach last week and the many-time Best Import awardee in the PBA was obviously worried when asked about the possibility of missing the services of Tenorio.

"I prayed the entire Holy Week (for LA not to turn pro this year)," Black said during his official appointment held at the PLDT office in Makati..

To fine-tune himself for the UAAP wars which opens in the second week of July, Tenorio orchestrates plays for Harbour Center in the Philippine Basketball League.

Tenorio’s backcourt partner in Ateneo is his long-time reliever, Macky Escalona, "who’s been doing well in practice," Black said.

Tenorio will be at the forefront of Ateneo’s assault along with the vastly improved JC Intal, a 6-foot-4 forward who has a leaping ability to elevate all the way to the penthouse.

Defending champion La Salle and Far Eastern have been tagged as early favorites with University of the East and University of the Philippines two squads capable of creating big surprises.