Coach’s son a finals revelation

MANILA, Philippines — Meralco guard Aaron Black is only the third PBA player ever to be coached by his father after Dodot Jaworski with Ginebra’s Robert Jaworski and Marc Agustin with Petron’s Ato Agustin. Black, 25, is the youngest performer of either Meralco or Ginebra in the PBA Governors’ Cup finals and the Bolts’ leading local scorer in the series so far.

“Aaron started playing when he was six in the mosquito league at Ayala Heights where we live,” said Meralco coach Norman Black. “He attended Xavier for three years then moved to Ateneo for Grade 4 when I became the school’s head coach. That was when I started to think he could be a good player. He won two national elementary championships in Grades 5 and 6 with guys like Thirdy Ravena, the Nietos and Jolo Mendoza.” Ginebra’s LA Tenorio, then playing for Black at Ateneo, recalled the kid hanging around in the gym. “Binubuhat-buhat ko siya,” said Tenorio. Now, they’re matched up against each other in the finals.

Who would’ve imagined the coach’s son to be an impact player in his second season and first finals? In the elims this conference, the sophomore pro averaged 6.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 24.1 minutes. In the finals, he’s norming 16.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 34:44 minutes. His shooting clip has improved from 35.8 percent from the field in the elims to 50.8 percent in the finals.

“It was when Aaron averaged a triple double, 21 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists in the PBA D-League that I thought he could play in the pros,” said Black. “He also played in the MPBL so he came prepared for the draft. He owes a lot to his coaches for his development – Mark Herrera who was his coach in Jr. PBA and AMA, Joe Ward, Joe Silva and Jamike Jarin. Aaron started for us at the start of the conference then came off the bench with Chris (Banchero) taking over as starter. But Chris got hurt in the semis and Aaron was back in the starting lineup. His mom (Benji) and sister Dominique are his biggest fans. Dominique, who’s 10 years older, passed the bar in the UK and works as a lawyer for a Canadian company in London. She watches every game on livestream and texts immediately after it’s over. We’re happy and proud that Aaron’s proved he can play in the PBA.”