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Basketball: Ron Jacobs on coaching for Danding Cojuangco — ‘Greatest job in the world’

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/life/06/17/20200617-danding-cojuangco.jpg"/><figcaption>The vast resources of businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr. (pictured) and the basketball genius of coach Ron Jacobs led to a re-energized men’s national program in the 80s. Arvin Lim, ABS-CBN Sports/file</figcaption></figure></div>When businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr. was tasked to fix the Philippines men’s national basketball program, he ended up saving more than a sport. Looking for a head coach to lead the national team, Cojuangco stumbled into Ron Jacobs, who had experience in US NCAA Division 1 but ended up being “dismissed” from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.Jacobs was unemployed and he found a second life of sorts, thanks to Cojuangco.Cojuangco died on Tuesday. He was 85.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/06/17/20/tycoon-and-kingmaker-danding-cojuangco-dies">Tycoon and kingmaker Danding Cojuangco dies</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/06/17/20/lunch-with-danding-remembering-a-business-and-sports-visionary">Lunch with Danding: Remembering a business and sports visionary</a></li></ul>In an extensive interview with the Los Angeles Times, published on the newspaper in September 1990, Jacobs detailed how he got the what he described as “the greatest job in the world.” “(The Philippine representative) asked if I would be interested in coaching the national team of the Philippines. I said I didn’t think so but I would be happy to meet with them and listen to them,” Jacobs said.According to the article, co-written by Alan Drooz and Barry Zepel, Jacobs was contacted by the Basketball Association of the Philippines, the sport’s national governing body at the time, after its officials, upon viewing a Loyola Marymount game, were left impressed by the team’s play.When Jacobs finally agreed to visit the Philippines for a sit-down with Cojuangco, the basketball godfather bared an ambitious plan. “This is what I want done. I want to go to the Olympics. I want the best possible team. I want American players who are eligible. . . . Can it be done? How much money is it going to cost?” Jacobs recalled of the conversation. When Cojuangco offered a budget of a million dollars, Jacobs was stunned. “Uh, I believe so,” he said.The Cojuangco-Jacobs partnership wasted no time applying their resources; the former whatever logistics was required, the latter his basketball genius.Together, they came up with what Jacobs called a “first-class” program for youth basketball, which resulted in the Filipinos beating South Korea and China en route to the Asian Youth Championship title.“From then, I’m a national hero,” Jacobs said.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/06/17/20/when-ph-basketball-program-needed-reviving-boss-danding-stepped-up-and-delivered">When PH basketball program needed reviving, ’Boss Danding’ stepped up and delivered</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/06/17/20/sbp-pba-mourns-death-of-titan-danding-cojuangco">SBP, PBA mourns death of &#x27;titan&#x27; Danding Cojuangco</a></li></ul>The Philippines enjoyed more basketball success up to 1985 but when the EDSA Revolution happened the next year, Cojuangco, a Ferdinand Marcos ally, was forced to leave the country.Jacobs, who died of a lingering illness in December 2015, only had fond memories of his stint in the Philippines, which also saw him coach in the PBA in the late 2000s for San Miguel Beer, which Cojuangco owned. For Jacobs, his relationship with Cojuangco ran deep.“You’re no longer an employee,” Jacobs recalled Cojuangco saying at one point in the 1980s, “you’re family.”<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/06/17/20/la-salle-players-mourn-passing-of-boss-danding">La Salle players mourn passing of &#x27;Boss Danding&#x27;</a></li></ul>For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="https://sports.abs-cbn.com/">ABS-CBN Sports website</a>.

The vast resources of businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr. and the basketball genius of coach Ron Jacobs led to a re-energized men’s national program in the 80s.

The vast resources of businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr. and the basketball genius of coach Ron Jacobs led to a re-energized men’s national program in the 80s.