Pinoy ex-Eagle Rock cager now calls shots at Maranatha

LOS ANGELES – Mark Caguioa, Alex Cabagnot then Andrew Gupilan were three Filipinos who carved a niche in Eagle Rock High School one after the other.

Caguioa later moved on to Glendale Community College, Cabagnot to University of Hawaii-Hilo and Gupilan at Whittier College.

Afterwards, Caguioa and Cabagnot pursued a pro career in the Philippines while Gupilan, a 5-foot-10 guard, opted to stay here, taking a masters course and, at the same time, starting a career in basketball coaching.

The Jr. NBA All-Star Philippine Team met Gupilan during the Filipino boys’ friendly match with Maranatha High School in Pasadena Saturday.

“I like coaching,” Gupilan told The STAR as the reason why he didn’t try to follow the footsteps of Caguioa and Cabagnot in the PBA.

Two years after playing his final season with Whittier College in 2009, Gupilan joined the Poets team coaching staff while taking masters in special education and mathematics in the same school.

He sat on the Poets bench from 2011 to the early part of 2013 before moving over to Maranatha.

“During the off-season, he’s helping take care of special people. He loves doing that,” said his father Arsenio Dupilan of Naga City.

“At Maranatha, he’s more of a skills coach,” the older Dupilan also said.

Like Caguioa and Cabagnot, Gupilan is a product of the Hooptown traveling basketball team in the Los Angeles area. He has played with Meralco sophomore forward Cliff Hodge and D-League player Virgil Buensuceso among others.

“I was in Manila six years ago with a high school team that played San Beda, Ateneo and others,” Gupilan said.

The older Dupilan said Hooptown is still very active, and there are a lot of potential Fil-Am PBA materials.

“Pero alam nila na nawawalan ang mga homegrown, kaya ayaw na rin nilang sumubok,” he said.

Standing about six feet, Dupilan also used to play, having his encounters with Atoy Co in Bicol.

“I tried out at Feati. Pero alam mo naman sa atin, marami ayaw masasaktan,” he said.

He migrated to the US in 1979 to work with American Airlines where he is connected up to present.