Former king Cardinal calls shots for Mapua

MANILA, Philippines - Mapua yesterday officially appointed former star Fortunato “Atoy” Co as its new senior basketball team coach with hopes of a better season and possibly an end to a decade-long title drought.

“Atoy is one of Philippines’ greatest players ever and he is a former Cardinal. He will certainly bring excitement to the Cardinals as well as the entire Mapúa community, including our legions of alumni who have followed him play professionally through the years,” Mapua president Dr. Reynaldo Vea said in a press statement.    

It will be a homecoming of sort for the Fortune Cookie, who played three seasons for the Cardinals from 1970 to 1972 during which he was named the season MVP twice.

“Mapúa is my home. There were offers from other colleges to coach their teams before, but I turned them down. When I got a call from Mapúa, I said, ‘Why not?’ I’m a former Cardinal so it would be nice to come home,” he said.  

As a pro, Co was a vital cog in Crispa’s two grand slam feats and is considered one of the PBA’s elite scorers, one of the early members of the 10,000-point club. He was eventually named to the PBA’s 25 all-time greatest players.

As a coach, Co mentored Crispa in the PBL and steered the Redmanizers to two championships in the early 90s.

“His years of playing and leading his team to victories will certainly be an invaluable asset as he coaches the Cardinals.  As background for a coaching role, there can be no substitute to actual court experience that produced positive outcomes. Plus he coached the Crispa Redmanizers to back-to-back victories in 1990-1991,” said Vea. 

Co will take over from Chito Victolero and will be at the helm in the next three years.