Baby Dalupan, legendary coach and starmaker, dies at 92

MANILA, Philippines — Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan, Philippine basketball’s most revered basketball coach who first registered PBA's most wins record, died on Thursday. He was 92.

 

Dalupan, who later in his career was called “The Maestro,” was a student-athlete at the Ateneo de Manila University during the post-war time.

Under his belt are 52 basketball championships.

 

News of the legendary coach’s demise first hit social media Thursday morning. Philstar.com has reached out to Dalupan's family, who declined to be interviewed for the meantime.

 

The Philippine Basketball Association, where Dalupan left most of his imprints, confirmed the news through its Twitter account:

 

Dalupan coached the University of the East Red Warriors, mentoring a young Robert “Sonny” Jaworski. He won 20 titles in the collegiate arena, 12 of which he delivered for the Recto-based squad.

The son of UE’s founder Dr. Francisco Dalupan Sr., The Maestro helmed the Crispa to its fabled dynastic rule. He snared nine championships with the Redmanizers and led Great Taste (Presto) to five. He also commandeered Purefoods to a title.

 

Ricardo Brown, star to the olden Great Taste squad, also posted a photo in Dalupan’s memory:

Named into the PBA’s Hall of Fame in 2005, Dalupan was the most emulated coach in Asia’s first pay-for-play league. An equally stellar coach in Tim Cone, who broke his record of 15 titles in 2014, drew much of his coaching inspiration from him.