No one really saw it coming.

But the decision to sack Luigi Trillo came swift and hard the other day that marked the end of the Trillo era at Alaska, one which started when Luigi’s father, Joaqui, started out as team manager before ending his 25-year relationship with the Uytengsu franchise as the alternate member of the board.

Luigi being given his walking papers came as a surprise to most everyone — from the fans to the media and we can imagine, even his family members.

He had given Alaska the 14th title of its franchise, when the Aces triumphed last year over Barangay Ginebra via a 4-0 sweep in the Commissioner’s Cup Finals.

That achievement, which came just two conferences after being given the reins, and less than a season after a massive revamp, gave Trillo the unanimous nod of the PBA Press Corps as its Coach of the Year that season.

We can’t remember a reigning Coach of the Year being let go in the history of the PBA Press Corps. Those who have won that award have gone on to do even greater things in the league in their careers.

People like Yeng Guiao, Norman Black, Ryan Gregorio, Chot Reyes and Tim Cone have established names in the PBA with records that will be hard to break.

The logical question now would be: Where to, Luigi?

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Not many people know this, and I am sure that it is being kept under wraps until this time.

But this corner has it under good authority that Luigi Trillo, his assistants Louie Alas and Alex Compton, were all offered – in separate instances – contracts by a popular team to bolt out of the Alaska camp less than a week after the Aces won that championship with Robert Dozier as their import.

First, it was Trillo who got the call and was offered a handsome package to handle this very popular team. The younger Trillo cited loyalty and some more championships to be won as his reason for turning down the offer.

Alas and Compton got calls shortly after Trillo thumbed down the offer, but both — though very interested in head coaching duties — also declined the offer after having signed contract extensions with the Aces for the next three years.

This corner is not saying that Trillo was dismissed without reason. He had his chances and team owner Wilfred Uytengsu is not one to take failure sitting down.

Alaska has one of the most talented local cores in the league in Cyrus Baguio, Sonny Thoss, JV Casio, Dondon Hontiveros and Calvin Abueva.

And Uytengsu has never missed signing a good import every time, meaning, Trillo always had the tools to win. He just wasn’t able to duplicate the magic that he wove in the 2013 Commissioner’s Cup.

Alaska failed to make it past the quarterfinals in each of the next three conferences after that championship run. And for a franchise as proud as Alaska, that’s already an eternity of futility.

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There were also nasty rumors about things that Trillo supposedly wanted to do while with the Aces. And things that he did that reportedly — we say reportedly — dampened the morale of the team.

Sources said that the trade of Aldrech Ramos to Air21 did not sit well with the superstars of the team and that Calvin Abueva was also being peddled as a trade bait together with Gabby Espinas to several teams.

The same sources said that it was Uytengsu himself who shot this deal down, believing that Abueva and Espinas have what it takes to make the Aces a dominant team in the seasons to come.

We may never know if these things were true or not. What happened has already happened and Trillo and the Aces are looking at their respective futures and will definitely take different directions.

What is concrete in the PBA is that there is nothing permanent in this league.

No one thought that someone like Danny Ildefonso, who helped San Miguel to a number of championships while winning two MVPs as a Beerman, would retire not wearing that uniform.

Very few also thought that a name like Trillo would be unceremoniously let go by Alaska, just when they were starting what seemed like a long relationship.

But that’s life. That’s the PBA and more importantly, that’s basketball. Nothing is ever sure until the final buzzer sounds.